I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. I 



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! UNITED STATES OP AMERICA.! 



THE 



WOMEN'S WAR 



ON 

WHISKY: 

Its History, Theory, and Prospects. 

E MBRACING 

A COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNT OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE 

WOMEN'S TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT, WITH SCENES AND 

INCIDENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN, AND A STATEMENT 

OF THE BEST MODE OF ENSURING SUCCESS. 

ZB3T Cr.H.BEADLB, 

AutJior of "LIFE IN UTAH," " THE UNDEVELOPED WEST," Etc, 
WITH AN 

Introductory Article and Statement 
of the Conditions of Success. 






BIT -DIO XjIE'WIS. 






CINCINNATI: a 

Wilstach, Baldwin & Co., 141 & 143 Eace Street. 
1874. 



H V 5"*.x«t 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, 

Br WILSTACH, BALDWIN & CO., 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 






K 2*£ 



PREFACE 



A complete history of the Women's Temperance 
Movement of 1874 can not be written until the war is 
over, and it§ phenomena considered and fully understood 
in the light of its results. The time when this can be 
done is yet in the future ; for it remains to be seen 
whether the work is not of many months, or even 
years, in duration. The object of this book is to fill a 
popular demand for a concise record of the origin and 
early history of this great Temperance Revival, and of 
its progress up to the date of publication, when the 
war is at its height. Another purpose is, by an ac- 
count of the methods which have been crowned with 
success, to present to all who wish to try the Ohio plan 
a manual for guidance — not to propose a substitute for 
the religious spirit which it seems must, in all cases, be 
the motive power, but to supply information derived 
from observation and experience as to the practical 
working of the movement. As a rule the greatest suc- 
cess has been achieved where there has been system- 
atic organization and labor, accompanied by devout 
Religious exercises and a constant looking to God for 
his blessing and guidance in every step of the work. 

an) 



INTEODUCTION: 

BY DIO LEWIS. 



There was trouble at our house when I was a small 
boy. My father had forgotten everything but drink. 
There were five of us small people. Our mother, with 
her own hands, provided for all. She earned and 
cooked our food, cut and made our clothes ; in brief, 
was father, mother, general provider, cook, house- 
keeper, and nurse. In addition to all this she was the 
victim of abuse and violence. Often she would cry in 
the presence of her children, and sometimes, when she 
could bear it no longer, she would drag her weary 
limbs up into the garret. We knew what she went up 
there for, and listened. Sometimes we could hear her 
say, " Oh God, help me ! help me ! help me ? Oh Lord, 
how long, how long !" Then she would keep very still 
for awhile. When she came down -to us again her 
cheeks were wet, but her face shone like an angel's. 
She taught us to pray. We grew up with a very large 
estimate of the power of prayer. The day was never 
so dark at our house that mother could not go up into 
the garret and open the clouds. 

To-day, more than forty years after those darkest 
times, I believe in my heart that woman's prayer is 
the most powerful agency on earth. 

Nineteen years ago, when I first began to speak in 

(y) 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

public, I prepared a lecture upon the Potency of the 
Prayers of Women in Grog Shops, which, (luring these 
years, T have delivered more than three hundred times. 
In about twenty towns the plan has been tried. 
Among the largest of these towns I may mention 
Dixon, Illinois, and Battle Creek, Michigan, where 
fourteen years ago the work was attempted, and Man- 
chester, New Hampshire, where the "Woman's Tem- 
perance Movement" was inaugurated five j^ears ago.* 
In each of these places I presented the scheme pre- 
cisely as in Southern Ohio, and know of no reason 
why the grand march did not begin before the last 
week of the year 1873. All we know is that God was 
not ready to move on the /hearts of'His people. 

Lecturing before the lyceums of Ohio during last 
December, I gave two evenings to the discussion of 
Women's Prayer Meetings in Saloons. In Hillsboro 
and Washington C. H., where this lecture was given, 
the women rose at once and declared they were ready. 
I saw that the hour had struck. The world knows the 
story. 

I have not a doubt that the women of America will 
rid the country of dram-shops if they can preserve the 
Christ-spirit in which they have begun, continue their 
combined movements against the enemy, give the poli- 
ticians and wise men a wide berth, and keep themselves 
in the spirit of humble prayer before God. 

DIO LEWIS, 

Boston, Mass., March 5, 1874. 



CHAPTER I. 

ORIGIN OF THE MOVEMENT. 

The Women's War on Whisky, now in progress in Ohio 
and some other States, is unparalleled among the phe- 
nomena of the age. When we consider the apparent feeble- 
ness of the agencies employed, as confrasted with the mighty 
forces previously brought to bear in the same direction, 
their comparative results, we must credit this movement 
with the highest character of success — that which consists 
in educing great results from limited means. Other move- 
ments have been heralded by immense and ingenious pre- 
paration, and nursed into life, as it were, slowly and pain- 
fully ; but this, as if without concert or previous calcula- 
tion, seemed to spring at once into full life and astonishing 
vigor — like Minerva, full-orbed and armor-clad, from the 
brain of Jupiter. 

And yet it was not a causeless, aimless excitement. On 
a completer view, all the movements hitherto for the sup- 
pression of intemperance seem but as preparatory to some 
such movement as this — a mighty moral and social revolu- 
tion accomplishing that which the law could not. Before 
entering upon a detailed history of the movement, a brief 
review of the causes leading to it is in order. 

The intemperate use of intoxicating liquors has been 
in all ages justly regarded as a great scourge of hu- 
manity ; and this alike in the lower and higher stages of 
civilization. The refining influences which moderated all 
other appetites and assuaged all other evils seemed almost 
ineffective as to this. In vain the moralist, satirist, priest. 



8 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

and law-giver, of every age, persuaded, ridiculed, and 
shamed its voluntary victims ; in vain they thundered 
against its agents with the terrors of human or divine 
vengeance ; the same madness seized on successive devo- 
tees, and the same streain of death rolled on. Ancient 
and modern literature alike abound in myths and em- 
blems symbolizing the terrors of the alcoholic curse. It 
is fabled as the cup of Circe, transforming men to swine ; 
or the devil which, entered men's mouths to steal away 
their brains. Now it is represented as with venom which 
biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder; again, as 
the deadly upas tree, in whose shade myriads, in spite of 
warning, sunk to sleep only to wake in death ; and again, 
as the serpent of the still, whose fiery bite sends poison 
through the body, racking every nerve and joint with 
horrors of which language affords no adequate description. 
And when moralist, satirist, and philosopher had spoken, 
the inspired Messenger added the dread sentence: " No 
drunkards shall inherit the kingdom of God." 

Yet, in spite of warnings, threats, and the terrible evi- 
dences daily before their eyes, multitudes pressed on; 
and, after two thousand years of moralizing, the evil was 
attacked by legislators. And with what result? Those 
who have studied the case most carefully seem divided 
between three opinions : One class maintains that pro- 
hibitory legislation has done great harm and.no good 
whatever; another, that it has done a little good and no 
harm ; and a third, that it has done neither good nor 
harm ; and the matter remains just where it did. Two 
hundred years and more after the first enactment of laws 
for the discouragement of the sale of intoxicating drinks 
in England, and after a fair trial of prohibition for a 
quarter of a century in several of the States of the Union, 



ORIGIN OF THE MOVEMENT. 9 

in the year of Grace, 1874, we find in the United States 
this state of facts : Two hundred thousand rum-holes 
spread disease and death through all ranks of society. 
A quarter of a million drunkards, and a million moder- 
ate drinkers, from whom the ranks of the former are 
steadily recruited, attest the power of this appetite. 
From half a million women a wail of anguish is wafted 
over an otherwise happy land; and over the graves 
of forty thousand drunkards, annually, goes up the 
mourning cry of the widow and orphan, appealing to the 
justice of Heaven against the injustice of man. 

The chief evils of the traffic in ardent spirits have 
fallen on women ; and it was eminently fitting that 
women should inaugurate the work for its destruc- 
tion. At one time, and without apparent concert, 
notes of preparation were heard in various places. 
Four towns in Ohio claim the honor of having been 
the first- — Washington Court House, Hillsboro, Wil- 
mington, and Springfield. In the last-named place 
several attempts were made as early as October, 1873, to 
enforce existing laws against the indiscriminate sale of 
liquors. At that time Mrs. E. D. Stewart, better known 
to the friends of temperance and woman suffrage as 
11 Mother Stewart," took up the cause of a poor woman 
whose husband had long been of the class " habitual 
drunkard," and assisted her to prosecute certain dealers 
under the Adair law. She found great difficulty in in- 
ducing any lawyer to take the case ; but finally Mr. 
Eawlings did so, with the understanding that " Mother 
Stewart" was to help the prosecution. She "read up" 
on the law, hunted out the witnesses, and made a case 
beyond a reasonable doubt. She then collected a num-. 
ber of ladies to attend the court during the trial, and 
give "moral support." With the women, the law, and 



10 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

the evidence against him, the dealer lost the case, and 
judgment was given against him by a jury in the jus- 
tice's court for $300. " Mother Stewart " examined the 
witnesses, and made the opening speech, as the law al- 
lowed her to do before a justice; but the dealer, backed 
by the Liquor-sellers' Association, appealed to a higher 
court, and there she was barred out. 

A few Sundays after she made a round of the city, 
taking note of the various places where the law was 
violated, and entering a prominent saloon, in partial 
disguise, bought a glass of liquor and carried it away 
to exhibit before the next temperance meeting. Those 
who were present when she held up the glass and told 
the story of a broken Sabbath and violated law, de- 
scribe the scene as theatrical and impressive. She 
then published and circulated, anonymously, an "Ap- 
peal to the Women of Springfield," signed "A Drunk- 
ard's Wife." This was powerfully written, and created 
great excitement. A petition was then circulated and 
signed by a thousand women or more, praying the 
city council to make use of their power under the 
199th section of the Municipal Code, and abate the 
saloons as nuisances — and here occurred the first 
defeat. Of the ten councilmen one is a brewer, an- 
other a distiller, another indifferent on the subject, and 
only three pronounced and radical temperance men. 
The ladies, however, continued earnestly in the work 
of a legal reform, and had collected materials for fifty 
indictments against liquor dealers before the inaugura- 
tion of the regular Women's War. Thus it has re- 
sulted that the two contests, that by the Law and that 
by aid of the Gospel, have gone along simultaneously 
in Springfield ; but whether this conjunction is favor- 
able to success may well be doubted. 



ORIGIN OF THE MOVEMENT. 11 

At Hillsboro, Highland county, some action was 
taken looking toward a temperance campaign, on the 
23d of December. Dr. Dio Lewis had lectured there a 
few days before, and made the same suggestions as at 
Washington. 

At Wilmington it is claimed that a movement very 
similar to this was inaugurated some fifteen years ago 
by Mrs. Sarah Smith and Mrs. Mary Hadley, two 
Quaker ladies of that place. Mary Hadley used to 
visit and remain at the saloons for days together, 
There was one fellow she was quite friendly with. 
She would come in the morning, and say : " Well, 
friend, how does thee do? I've come to spend the jday 
with thee again." Pretty soon some fellow would 
come in, and, thinking she was one of the family, 
would call for his drink quite unconcerned. About the 
time he was lifting it he would feel a tap on his shoul- 
der, and Mary would say in her sweet voice and 
pleasant way : " Friend, does thee know thee is taking 
poison?" Last December the people of Wilmington 
were organizing for a temperance campaign some days 
before Dio Lewis came to Washington. But, as re- 
gards a regular organization, a plan of campaign and 
effective work persevered in until crowned with auc- 
cesss, Washington C. H. must be held as justly entitled 
to the honor of initiating The Women's War on 
Whisky. 



12 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 



CHAPTEE II. 

EARLY VICTORIES. 

On the evening of December 24, 1873, the Lyceum and 
Lecture Association of Washington C.H. had, in its reg- 
ular course, a lecture on "Our Girls," by Dr. Dio Lewis, 
the celebrated author of a system of gymnastics and of 
works on "Health," "Hygiene," etc. Incidental to his 
main subject, the Doctor referred at some length to 
the use of tobacco and ardent spirits, and the havoc 
they were working in the social life of America. It is 
impossible to say anything new on the evils of intem- 
perance; the Doctor did better — he suggested a new 
plan for fighting the evil, and in so doing inaugurated 
the grandest movement of the age. He gave an account 
of a plan the ladies of his native place in .New York 
had adopted for closing the drinking places. There 
were five in the place (it was a manufacturing town), 
and numbers of the men who worked in the mills 
wasted the means of their families' support in tippling. 
At length a number of young boys were made drunk 
one Saturday evening at one of these places; then the 
women rose in despair and cried unto God for help. 
It entered the minds of some of them to suggest prayer 
and personal intercession with the saloon keepers, and 
in their desperation this method was adopted. A band 
of ladies, the praying mothers of the place, stood up 
and with clasped hands, forming a circle which just 
reached around the little church, pledged each other 
before God never to give over their labors and prayers 



EARLY VICTORIES. 13 

until the last drinking place in town was closed. 
They made a little banner, embroidered with a picture 
of a little girl at a well, giving a drink of water to a 
boy, and under this simple device they went out day 
after day to their chosen work. They sang, prayed, 
and sang again with each saloon-keeper, then pre- 
sented their request for him to quit the business, and 
in a few days all the dealers had yielded but one. He 
plead that it was the only business he had by which 
to support his family. Then the ladies came forward 
with a generous proposition: "They would support 
his family; only quit selling liquor, to the danger of 
their husbands and sons, and they would cheerfully 
earn the money with their needles, and between them 
would support his family!" Deep shame made him 
silent, and before another day he, too, was pledged to 
sell no more. Nineteen years have passed and that 
town is still free from saloons! The Doctor thought 
the same plan would succeed in Washington, and 
offered to meet as many as would organize the next 
day. 

Christmas morning, at nine o'clock, a large number 
of the foremost men and women of the place met at 
the Methodist church, and then and there was organ- 
ized the movement against the liquor traffic, which will 
pass into history as the " Washington Court House 
Plan." Eighty ladies enlisted at once, and on the 26th 
of December began the work. 

Their plan was to visit the saloons in force, and, 
after asking permission, hold a regular prayer meet- 
ing, asking the blessing of God on the proprietor and 
his family. After a due season of prayer and song 
they presented what is now generally known as the 
" Dealers' Pledge," and requested him to sign it. It 



14 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

simply pledged him never to sell intoxicating liquors 
again in Washington. If he declined, they renewed 
their visits; but it was not their policy to hold any 
arguments. They merely sang and prayed for the 
Divine influence upon his heart. The number of 
saloons there when the movement began was ten. 
There were also four drug stores, selling without par- 
ticular discrimination ; these were requested to, and 
soon did, sign a pledge to sell only on the prescription 
of a regular physician. 

By the first day of January, 1874, one week from 
the time of organizing, one-half the liquor dealers 
had surrendered unconditionally, some shipping their 
liquor back to the wholesale dealers, and others pour- 
ing it into the gutters. For the next three days the 
campaign was at its height. While the ladies went on 
their rounds, the men in sympathy with them and a 
large number of ladies remained in the church in con- 
tinued prayer meeting; at the close of each prayer the 
bell was tolled, and the crusaders were cheered on in 
their work by the knowledge that another supplica- 
tion had ascended for their success. The band now 
numbered a hundred and fifty ladies. The saloon- 
men who remained were the most obstinate of the 
class, and now began to refuse the ladies admittance; 
then the latter kneeled in front of the door and prayed 
all the more fervently for God's grace to soften and 
convert the dealer. One by ono the dealers yielded to 
their persuasions and prayers, and finally, on the fourth 
day of January, the glad news was telegraphed that 
not a drop of any thing intoxicating could be pur- 
chased for a beverage in Washington. A campaign of 
song and prayer had, in eleven days, closed ten saloons 
and pledged four druggists to sell only on prescription. 



EARLY VICTORIES. 15 

But the ladies, rightly judging that they had a great 
deal more to do, commenced laying a broader founda- 
tion to make their work permanent. The mass meet- 
ings, which had been held every evening, at the 
churches alternately, were continued, as were the 
morning prayer meetings ; and the personal pledge 
was industriously circulated. In a short time a thou- 
sand signatures were obtained to the personal pledge. 

The doctors were also called upon, and generally 
agreed that they would never prescribe ardent spirits 
when any substitute could be used, and in no case 
without a personal examination of the patient. 

The property-holders' pledge was next in order, 
reading as follows : 

"We, the undersigned, property-holders of Washington, do 
hereby pledge ourselves not to lease or rent our property to any 
person or persons, to be used as saloons, nor to allow any dealings 
of tbe liquor traffic to be carried on upon or in any property or 
premises belonging to us." 

This was signed, with only two or three exceptions, 
by all who owned property that could be used for 
liquor selling. 

For a brief space the ladies rested after their vic- 
tory; but there was a great deal more to do. This 
enemy is not one that will retire after one defeat, nor 
two, nor three. Washington had a "John Allen," a 
"wickedest man," who was willing to do mischief for 
mischiefs sake. A man named Slater took counsel of 
his priest and lawyer, who informed him that whisky 
selling was "a legitimate business under the laws of 
Ohio," and he would be sustained in it. Accordingly 
he opened a saloon a little meaner than any of those 
which had been suppressed. The ladies came in force, 
with singing, prayer, and eloquent pleadings ; but he 



16 THE WOMEN'S AVAR ON WHISKY. 

resisted all, and affected to treat the whole matter with 
contempt. Only a few of the lowest and most despe- 
rate tipplers would visit his house while the ladies 
occupied it ; but he sold liquor right over their heads 
to what few customers he had. At length there came 
a fearfully cold day, and Slater built no fire, but 
sprinkled water on the floor and opened both front and 
back doors, creating quite a draught, being determined 
to freeze them out. The ladies " guessed they could 
stand the cold, if he could stand the cold and whisky 
too," and heroically stuck to their work. The town 
marshal was on hand most of the time, warmed boards 
for them to stand on, and finally built a fire in the 
street. The next move was to erect a " tabernacle," a 
portable frame building, with one side open and fitted 
up with stove and seats. This they set up in front of 
the saloon, and being divided into relief committees 
kept up all-day prayer meetings. A rumor then 
spread about town, causing immense excitement for 
awhile, that Slater was backed by a Cincinnati firm of 
liquor dealers, who had pledged $5,000 to break down 
the movement. On the 15th of January a clear case 
of violating the Adair law was made out against Mr. 
Slater, and he was compelled to suspend. Then came 
one Bigsby, evidently a " lewd fellow of the baser 
sort," who announced himself the agent of a Cincinnati 
firm, and proposed to establish a wholesale liquor 
store in Washington. The ladies sought him, but he 
laughed at their prayers, ridiculed their pleadings, 
and generally proved himself a man sold wholly to 
Satan. One lady insisted on knowing the name of his 
Cincinnati firm, proposing to correspond with them, to 
which he replied that he could not allow her to enter 
upon a correspondence with liquor dealers unless she 



EARLY VICTORIES. 17 

could show the "written consent of her husband under 
the Adair law." But he proved to be a romancer, 
and, as no Cincinnati firm has been found to acknowl- 
edge him, it is evident that he added the sin of lying 
to that of resisting the gospel of temperance. 

For a few days the ladies congratulated themselves 
that their work was done, but with all their experi- 
ence they had underrated the devices of the enemy. A 
mile or so south of town was a wayside saloon, kept by 
one James Sullivan, and just out of town, on the Cliil- 
licothe pike, a beer hall by Charlie Beck; and these 
two gave them more trouble than all the ten in the 
city. There is always a class who "must have liquor," 
or think so. The vast majority of men who drink 
habitually or occasionally, but still moderately, will 
not go far out of their way to get liquor, and to shut 
up the saloons generally stops their drinking. But 
the "confirmed" class now centered their patronage 
on Beck and Sullivan, and there was too much money 
in the business for them to give it up readily. But 
nothing daunted, the ladies prepared for a vigorous 
campaign against the two saloons, though both were 
outside of the corporation and not included in the 
original pledge the crusaders had made with each 
other. About this time the novel method of fighting 
whisky with prayer, and song began to attract the 
attention of the press and people elsewhere, and the 
writer concluded to spend "a few days" in taking 
notes of the matter. The "few days" have stretched 
to seven weeks, and the end is not yet. 

I reached Washington at noon of January 20th, and, 
seeking Mr. Beck's beer garden, found him in a state 
of terrible nervousness, as the ladies had spent the 
forenoon in front of his place. He evidently regarded 



18 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

me as a spy, but was much mollified when assured that 
I was only a journalist, and made voluminous com- 
plaint in "High Dutch " and low English : 

"I got no vitnesses. Dem vimens dey set up a shob on me. 
But you don't bin a 'bitual drunkard, eh ? No, you don't look 
like him. Vail, coom in, coom in. Vat you vant, beer or vine? 
I dells you dem vimins is shust awful. Py shinks, dey build a 
house right in the shreet, and stay mit a man a.ll day a singin', and 
oder foolishness. But dey don't git in here once agin, already." 

In obedience to his invitation I had entered by the 
side door — the front was locked and' barred — to find 
four customers indulging in liquor, beer, and pigs' 
feet. One announced himself as an "original Granger," 
a second as a retired sailor, while the others were non- 
committal. They stated that two spies had just 
applied for admission — " men who would come in and 
drink, then go and swear they were habitual drunk- 
ards under the Adair law" — and that accounted for 
Mr. Beck's suspicions of me. 

The Adair law I find everywhere to be the great 
horror of saloon-keepers. It allows any wife or child, 
or other relative directly interested, to prosecute for 
the sale of liquor to husband or father; and almost 
any one may prosecute for the sale of liquor to a " ha- 
bitual drunkard." 

Whether such a law be just or constitutional, there is 
great dispute ; but it is evident that it gives great op- 
portunity for fraud and blackmailing. It is, however, 
just now the strong rock of defense of the Ohio tem- 
perance people ; and it may be that by its enforcement 
some saloon-keepers have been driven out of the busi- 
ness who would have withstood the prayers of an arch- 
angel and all the tears that sorrowing pity ever shed. 

Mr. Beck kept open house nearly all that night; the 



EARLY VICTORIES. 19 

sounds of revelry were plainly heard in town, and in 
the morning several drunken men came into town, one 
of whom tumbled down in a livery stable, and went to 
sleep on a manure-pile, from which he was carried to 
the lock-up. Matters were evidently coming to a crisis, 
and I went out early; but the ladies reached there in 
force just before me. I met Mr. Beck hurrying into 
town to consult his lawyer, or, as he phrased it, "to 
see mein gounsel venn I no got a right to my own 
broperty." 

The main body of the ladies soon arrived, and took 
up a position with right center on the door-step, the 
wings extending each way beyond the corners of the 
house, and a rearward column along the walk to the 
gate. In ludicrous contrast the routed revelers, who 
had been scared out of the saloon, stood in a little knot 
fifty feet away, still gnawing at the pigs' feet they had 
held on to in their hurried flight ; while I took a con- 
venient seat on the fence. The ladies then sang: 

11 Oh, do not be discouraged, for Jesus is your friend, 
He will give you grace to conquer, and keep you to the end." 

As the twenty or more clear, sweet voices mingled 
in the enlivening chorus — 

" I'm glad I'm in this army," etc. — 

The effect was inspiring. I felt all the enthusiasm of 
the occasion, while the pigs'-feet party, if they did not 
feel guilty, certainly looked so. The singing was fol- 
lowed by a prayer from Mrs. Mills Gardner. She 
prayed for the blessing of God on the temperance 
cause generally, and in this place particularly; then 
for Mr. Beck, his family and friends, his house and all 
that loved him, and closed with an eloquent plea for 
guidance in the difficult and delicate task they had un- 



20 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

dertaken. In one respect the prayer was unsurpassed ; 
it was eminently fitting to the place and occasion. As 
the concluding sentences were being uttered, Mr. Beck 
and his "gounsel" arrived. The ladies paid no atten- 
tion to either, but broke forth in loud strains: 

"Must Jesus bear the cross alone? 
No, there's a cross for me," 

When the lawyer borrowed some of my paper, whis- 
pering at the same time: "I must take down their 
names. Guess I shall have to prosecute some of them 
before we stop this thing." 

I should need the pen of an Irving and pencil of a 
Darley to give any adequate idea of the scene. On 
one side a score of elegant ladies, singing with all the 
earnestness of impassioned natures; a few yards away, 
a knot of disturbed revelers, uncertain whether to 
stand or fly; half-way between, the nervous Beck, 
bobbing around like a case of fiddle-strings with a hun- 
dred pounds of lager-beer fat hung on them, and on the 
fence by the ladies a cold-blooded lawyer and excited 
reporter scribbling away as if their lives depended 
on it. It was painful from its very intensity. 

The song ended, the presiding lady called upon Mrs. 
Wendell, and again arose the voice of prayer — so clear 
so sweet, so full of pleading tenderness, that it seemed 
she would, by the strength of womanly love, compel 
the very heavens to open and send down in answer a 
spark of divine Grace that would turn the saloon- 
keeper from his purpose. The sky, which had been 
overcast all morning, began to clear, the occasional 
drops of rain ceased to fall, and a gentle south wind 
made the air soft and balmy. It almost seemed that 
nature had joined in the prayer. 



EARLY VICTORIES. 21 

■ 

Again the ladies sung : 

"Are there no foes for me to face," 

With the camp-meeting chorus: 

" O, how I love Jesus, 
Because he first loved me." 

As this song concluded, the lawyer suddenly stepped 
forward and said: 

"Now, ladies, I have a word to say before this per- 
formance goes any further. Mr. Beck has employed 
me as his attorney. He can not speak good English, 
and I speak for him here. He is engaged in a legiti- 
mate business, and you are trespassers on his property 
and right. If this thing is carried any further you 
will be called to account in the court, and I can assure 
you the court will sustain the man. He has talked 
with you all he desires to. He does not want to put 
you out forcibly; that would be unmanly, and he does 
not wish to act rudely. But he tells you to go. As 
his attorney I now warn you to desist from any further 
annoyance." 

Again the ladies sang : 

" My soul be on thy guard, 
Ten thousand foes arise." 

And Mrs. Carpenter followed with a fervent prayer 
for the lawyer and his client; but they had fled the 
scene, leaving the house locked up. After consultation 
the ladies decided to leave Mr. Beck's premises and take 
a position on the adjoining lot. They sent for the " tab- 
ernacle," a rude frame building they had used in front 
of Slater's saloon. This they erected on an adjoining 
lot, put up immense lights to illuminate the entrance 
to the beer garden, and kept up a guard from early 



22 the women's war on whisky. 

morning till midnight. Legal proceedings were at 
once instituted, and two weeks afterward the following 
dispatch appeared in the Cincinnati papers : 

Washington C. H., Ohio, February, 4. 
Tell Beadle, of the Commercial, that my gounsel has had dem- 
perance meeting and tabernacle abated as a nuisance. 

CHAS. BECK. 

It was too true. An injunction was granted, and 
then the temperance party had recourse to the law. 
One Mrs. Frazier brought suit against Sullivan and 
Beck, under the Adair law, and the former was soon 
compelled to suspend. Mr. Beck held out for a short 
time, then yielded good-humoredly to the ladies, and 
the place was again clear. Then came one Passmore 
with six kegs of beer, and opened out in one of the 
deserted saloons. His first visitors were one hundred 
women ; and they stayed with him all day. At night 
he yielded, and signed a pledge to never sell liquor 
again in Washington. It was noted by the transfer 
agent at Morrow that six kegs of beer were shipped to 
Washington one morning and ten sent back the next 
night. Washington Court House remains free from 
the curse, and such a healthful public sentiment has 
been created that for years to come it will be almost 
impossible for a saloonist to get a foothold in the place. 
All honor to the fair and brave Washingtonians, and 
may they long enjoy the fruits of their victory. 

Wilmington, where the movement next began, the 
county town of Clinton county, had a shorter cam- 
paign, and fully as complete a victory. On Saturday 
evening, January 3d, all the churches united in a 
temperance organization; and on the * 5th sixty -two 
ladies entered upon the work, visiting the four drug 



EAELY VICTORIES. 23 

stores and eleven saloons. In three days more the 
ladies came in bands from the surrounding country to 
assist; two hundred women engaged in the work, and 
on the 14th the last saloon surrendered ! In nine days 
the ladies of Clinton county closed eleven saloons, and 
obtained pledges from the four druggists. 

The movement next spread to the neighboring towns 
of Sabina and Clarksville. Both were cleared of 
saloons in a few days. But the movement had now 
ceased to be local, and was spreading in all directions, 
half a dozen fresh places being aroused every day. 
We must now follow its history in general terms, 
rather than in special detail. 



24 THE women's war on whisky. 



CHAPTEE III. 

RAPID EXTENSION OF THE WORK. 

Friend and foe alike have been astonished at the 
rapid progress of the temperance work. For a few 
days- its opponents sneered, and the public were simply 
indifferent; but as it spread, grew, and mightily pre- 
vailed, there were abundant prophecies as to the result. 
Some, that it would degenerate soon into a mere bur- 
lesque; more, that it would run into*a wild fanaticism, 
disgraceful to religion and hurtful to morals; or that 
it would create a temporary enthusiasm, to be followed 
in a few weeks by a reaction and more drinking than 
before. The best friends of temperance were not with- 
out apprehensions that the popular feeling might run 
into a mere wild crusade, ungoverned by reason and 
unproductive of good. It is only fair to say that both 
friend and foe have been disappointed. The move- 
ment has gained in steadiness as it increased in power; 
and instead of fanaticism, we see in places where it 
has last been inaugurated, a cool precision of judgment 
and practical arrangement of details almost military 
in exactness. Nor has the movement encountered that 
fierce opposition one would naturally have expected. 
It is a noteworthy fact that Washington and Hills- 
boro, the starting points, are the only places where a 
vigorous legal fight was made against the reform ; 
meanwhile scores of other, places have been swept 
clean of saloons. The matter has now passed beyond 
the domain of the merely sensational, and the conflict 



RAPID EXTENSION OF THE WORK. 25 

of the women of Ohio with the whisky power is a fixed 
fact, likely to continue in full vigor for months, and to 
affect the politics and society of many sections, if not 
of the whole State, for a much longer period. The 
very genius of primitive Christianity seems to inspire 
some of these praying women, and their exhortations 
warm the coldest hearts like a new gospel, second only 
to the fervid preaching of the Apostolic fishermen of 
Galilee. 

At Hillsboro, in Highland county, the movement 
was cotemporary with that at Washington, but has 
encountered many difficulties. By the middle of Jan- 
uary a hundred women were at work, and all the 
better part of the community, in sympathy with them, 
were holding mass meetings every night, circulating 
the pledge and giving moral support by every means 
in their power. One-half the saloons had been closed, 
and half the druggists had given the usual pledge, 
when the first serious hindrance to the movement 
occurred. Dr. W. H. H. Dunn, the leading druggist, 
at the beginning of the work presented the following: 

u CONCESSION OF THE PALACE DRUG STORE TO DIO DEWIS. 
I 
" Ladies — In compliance with your request I give you this 

promise: That I will carry on my business in the future as I have 
in the past; that is to say, in the sale of intoxicating liquors I 
will comply with the law; nor will I sell to any person whose 
father, mother, wife, or daughter gives me a written request not 
to make such sale. 

"W. H. H. DUNN." 

I visited Hillsboro during the height of the contest, 
and gave this account of the situation while the ladies 
w x ere besieging Dr. Dunn : 

All this damp winter day, from ten o'clock this 
morning till now, four in the afternoon, this prayer 
2 



26 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

and praise has continued; and as I drop my pen a 
moment the air is filled with the melody of the old 
camp-meeting tune: 

"Jesus sought me when a stranger, 
Wandering from the fold of God." 

Passing by the back entrance occasionally into the 
drug store, I find the doctor and his clerk whiling 
away their time as best they can; perhaps one-twen- 
tieth of their time being taken up in actual business. 
The doctor does not swear exactly, or abuse the ladies, 
but sometimes he looks very, very weary. The front 
door is locked, and the few customers work a devious 
way around, a boy being on the watch with careful 
instructions "to admit no suspicious characters." The 
doctor says his business three weeks ago amounted to 
sixty dollars a day, while now it is seldom over ten. 
He dwells bitterly on the facts that he " does a legiti- 
mate business, not violating any law of State or city; 
that he has always been a temperate man, and as long 
as God gives him strength he will keep his temper, 
and treat the ladies respectfully, waiting for this 
fanatical frenzy to wear out." 

A fresh detail of women has just arrived, and, after 
a lengthy prayer, are dealing out old " Coronation " in 
heart-moving tones. The towns-people go and come 
their accustomed ways with little notice, but it is curi- 
ously comical to notice strangers and country people. 
They begin to step gingerly about a square off; as 
they get nearer steadily soften their steps, and finally 
take off their hats and edge their way slowly around 
the open-air prayer meeting as one would pass a 
funeral. It reminds me strongly of sights I have wit- 



RAPID EXTENSION OF THE WORK. 27 

nessed in Catholic countries, where people do their 
praying in the open air just like any other business. 

The next morning (January 31st) Hillsboro awoke 
to a sensation. Scattered in all the hall-ways and 
posted in the most conspicuous places was this placard : 

"NOTICE TO THE LADIES OF HILLSBORO." 

,. "Whereas, Many of you, among whom are: Mesdames Wil- 
liam Scott, William Trimble, Sams, W. O. Collins, J. M. Boyd, A. 
Evans, Reece Griffith, Jonah Langley, William Hoyt, Carolina 
Miller, Wash. Doggett, W. P. Bernard, Misses Maria Stewart^ 
Rachel Conrad, Sallie Stevenson, Maggie Bowles, Clara Rhodes, 
Annie Wilson, Grace Gardner, Jennie Harris, Emma Grand- / 
Girard, Mollie Van Winkle, Emily Grand-Girard, Libby Kirby. 
Ella Dill, Laura Rockhold, Eddy, Alice Speese, Kate Trimble, 
Alice Boardman and sister [fifty more names follow], who are 
aided by the following named gentlemen : Messrs. E. L. Ferris, 
H. S. Fullerton, Samuel Amen, Asa Haynes, J. J. Brown, J. S. 
Black, W. C. Barry, E. Carson, Joseph Glasscock, William Scott, 
Thomas Barry, S. E. Hibben & Son, T. C. Lytle, R. S. Evans, L. 
McKibben, R. Griffiths, J. L. Boardman, John Cowgill, Lewis 
Ambrose, H. Scarborough, William Ambrose, Wash. Doggett, H. 
Swearingen, Rev. E. Grand-Girard, and many others. 

"And who, although not directly participating in your daily 
proceedings, are, nevertheless, counseling and advising you in 
your unlawful proceedings by subscriptions of money, and encour- 
agement in the commission of daily trespasses upon my property, 
since the 24th day of December last, by reason of which my legit- 
imate business has been obstructed, my feelings outraged, and my 
profession and occupation sought to be rendered odious, by reason 
of which I have suffered great pecuniary damage and injury, 
Therefore, you and each of you, together with your husbands (or 
such as may have them), and the persons who are thus aiding you 
with their money, encouragement and advice in your unlawful 
proceedings, are hereby notified that I can not, nor will not, 
longer submit to your daily trespasses on my property and injury 
to my business. 

" While I am willing to excuse your action in the past, I can 



28 the women's war on whisky. 

not submit to such outrages in the future. Cherishing no unkind 
hostility toward any one, but entertaining the highest regard for 
the ladies of Hillsboro, distinguished heretofore as they have been 
for their courtesy, refinement, and Christian virtues, I feel ex- 
tremely reluctant to have to appeal to the law for protection 
against their riotous and unlawful acts. 

" You are therefore hereby further notified that if such action 
and trespasses are repeated, I shall apply to the laws of the State 
for redress and damages for the injuries occasioned by reason of 
the practices of which I complain. 

" All others aiding and encouraging you by mean's of money or 
otherwise are also notified that I shall hold them responsible for 
such advice and encouragement. Yours respectfully, 

" W. H. H. DUNN." 

An immense mass meeting of the temperance party 
met at nine o'clock ; it was unanimously resolved to go 
on in the work ; in one hour a frame tent was erected 
in the street in front of Dunn's store, and eighty-three 
ladies took possession, keeping up an all-day prayer 
meeting. The same attorney w r ho had been u goun- 
sel " for Mr. Beck at Washington, was sent for to serve 
Mr. Dunn ; and in a day or two Judge Saiford, of the 
Probate Court, issued the following to over two hun- 
dred of the temperance party: 

" You are hereby notified and warned that David Johnson and 
W. H. H. Dunn, plaintiffs, have this day obtained an order. of 
temporary injunction and a restraining order in an action pend- 
ing in the Court of Common Pleas, for the said county of Highland, 
w herein they are plaintiffs, and you, the above named persons, are 
defendants, and have given an undertaking according to law. 
This is, therefore, to command you, the said above named defend- 
ants, each and all of you, from using for praying, singing, exhort- 
ing, or any other purpose, a certain plank and canvas structure or 
shanty, erected on High street, in Hillsboro, Obio, in front of the 
drug store of said W. H. H. Dunn ; and it is further ordered that 
you, said defendants, are ordered to remove the said structure or 



RAPID EXTENSION OF THE WORK. 29 

shanty forthwith, and each and every part of the same, whether 
plank or canvas, and you are each and all hereby restrained and 
enjoined from re-erecting or replacing the said structure, or any 
similar structure, in said locality or upon said street, to the annoy- 
ance of the said W. H. H. Dunn ; and it is further ordered that 
you, the said defendants, each and all of you, are hereby enjoined 
and restrained from singing, praying, exhorting, or making a noise 
and disturbance in front of said drug store of said W. H. H. Dunn, 
or on the sidewalk, or on the steps thereof, or in the vicinity 
thereof, to his annoyance, or from trespassing in or upon his said 
premises, or in any manner interrupting his said business, and this 
you will in no wise omit under the penalty of the law. 

"Witness my hand and the seal of said Court at Hillsboro, this 
31st day of January, 1874. 

[seal] "J. K. PICKERING, Clerk. 

"A true copy: C. T. Pape, Sheriff." 

In consequence of this order, in the dead of night 
the "faithful" submissively — 

" Folded their tent like the Arabs, 
And silently stole away," 

And at the dawn of day there was naught to mark 
where the "tabernacle" had stood. It had mysteri- 
ously disappeared. The defendants retained the ser- 
vices of M. J. Williams, Esq., of Washington C. EL, 
and Judge Matthews and J. H. Thomson, of Hills- 
boro ; Dunn employed Messrs. Sloan, Buson, Collins, 
and Parker, and a legal contest of the greatest interest 
began. The case was argued at length before Judge 
Steele, of the Circuit Court; the ladies attended in 
great numbers ; the Women's War in all its bearings 
was discussed by the counsel, and the matter finally 
decided on a mere technicality. It was held that 
David Johnson was improperly joined with Mr. Dunn, 
as the former merely owned the property, not the 
business ; the merits of the case were left untouched. 



30 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

the temporary injunction was dissolved, and the par- 
ties left to their remedies at law. The legal aspects 
of this and similar cases will be found under the 
proper heading. 

Greenfield, in the northern part of the same county, 
entered upon the temperance war with unusual vigor. 
The movement began on the 12th of January, and in 
six weeks eleven saloons were closed, and three 
druggists had signed the pledge. The pledge of per- 
sonal abstinence was meanwhile signed by 2,640 per- 
sons. But one drug store, kept by a Mr. Clinton, 
remained open, and notoriously sold more liquor than 
any three of the saloons. Week after week the perse- 
vering women kept up their labors. The affair was 
conducted with the utmost courtesy on both sides. 
Mr. Clinton never locked his door against them, nor 
did they ever display impatience or ill-temper. I can 
not give a better idea of the spirit of love and piety 
animating the crusaders than to copy from the Secre- 
tary's reports. Every night, in mass meeting, the 
Secretary of the Ladies' Temperance League read a 
report of work done during the day, most of them in 
spirit like these : 

" Greenfield, O., January 23, 1874. 

" At the close of the hour of prayer, held by the business men 
of our community this morning, the Ladies' League assembled at 
the church. After commending our cause to the Heavenly 
Father , as has always been our custom, we started forth. 

" It was intended to call on Dr. T. S. McGurrough again this 
morning ; but on reaching the drug store we learned that it had not 
been opened since his return from Cincinnati, and our first visit 
was to Mr. Kaiser. We presented our supplications for him to 
God in songs and prayers, and then commended to him the 
dealers' pledge. But our hearts were not prepared to receive this 
blessing, and we left him still unyielding. 



RAPID EXTENSION OF THE WORK. 3L 

"We were received by Mr. Clinton in his very gentlemanly 
manner, seats being prepared for almost every lady. Yet the 
Heavenly Stranger, kindest of all friends, still stands knocking at 
the door of his heart, still, alas ! not admitted. 

" Mr. Brady, the clerk at Mr. Crothers' saloon, kindly received 
us, Mr. Crother being still absent. He pleads that this business 
is the only one he can engage in to support his family decently. 

I Better is a little with fear of the Lord than great treasure and 
trouble therewith. The blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and He 
addeth no sorrow with it. ' 

" Mr. Powell — himself a temperate man — still deals out to his 
fellow men that which has caused so much suffering and misery, 
because, as he acknowledges, it is a speedier way of making 
money than by manual labor. 'An inheritance may be gotten 
hastily at the beginning ; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.' 

il No meeting was held this afternoon. Although, if we looked 
at the labors of this day as only the work of men, we might think 
nothing had been accomplished, we feel strengthened and encour- 
aged to pursue the work to-morrow with renewed diligence. As 
we came from the different establishments, sometimes with sor- 
rowful hearts because our requests were not granted, we were 
encouraged by the peals of the church bell telling us that another 
prayer on our behalf had ascended to the Throne of Mercy. 

" When returning from our labors in the evening we are often 
asked, ' Have you done any good to-day?' It seems strange that 
those who believe in the promises of God would ask such a ques- 
tion. Methinks had such a question been asked of the children of 
Israel, on any of those six days in which they surrounded the 
walls of Jericho, or even during the six times on the seventh day. 
their answer would have been the words of the Lord to Joshua: 

I I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and 
the mighty men of valor.' These men had neither the Prophets, 
nor the Gospels, nor the many recorded answers to prayer that 
God has been granting through all ages down to the present time, 
to encourage them; yet, by faith, the walls of Jericho fell down 
after they were encompassed about seven days. Even so, dear 
friends, shall it be with us. 'He that goeth forth weeping, bear- 
ing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, 
bringing his sheaves with him.'" 



32 the women's war on whisky. 

11 Greenfield, O., February 6, 1874. 

"This morning we met at the church with our friends in the 
temperance cause, not to prepare to make our usual daily visits, 
but to spend the day with them in humble prayer and thanksgiv- 
ing, for we verily believe the eyes of the Lord are upon us in this 
phtce, and He will attend unto our prayers. Hitherto hath He 
helped us, and He will not forsake his children. 

"As we looked over the congregation we saw the face of one 
here and another there who had been in the bitter bondage of 
intemperance, but now, with beaming countenance, listening to 
the words that fell from the lips of our dear friends ; and as we 
knew that the stretched-out arm of Jehovah had redeemed them 
our hearts swelled with gratitude, and the- prayer ascended to God 
that He would breathe His Holy Spirit upon every part of our 
nation and send them this blessing. 

" And when the morning was past we felt l Surely the Lord is in 
this place ; this is none other but the house of God and the gate 
of heaven.' 

" During the services a communication from our brethren of the 
German Methodist Episcopal Church was read before the Temper- 
ance Association, and it was incorporated in the report of the 
League : 

Greenfield, O., February 4, 1874. 

" c At the leaders' meeting of the German Methodist Episcopal 
Church of this place, the following resolution was passed to rectify 
the reports that have been circulating in this community, viz.: 
That all the members of our Church, with the exception of one or 
two, were against the temperance cause. The pledge that is now 
circulating in our Church will prove to the the contrary. 

Ui We, the undersigned ladies of said Church hereby wish to ex- 
press our feelings and to assure you that we are in perfect har- 
mony with you in striving against this great evil of intoxication, 
and further pledge ourselves to do all we can in favor of the tem- 
perance cause. 

" c O. Wilke, Preacher in charge, 

" ' Frederick Schnarrenberger, 

" ' William Buese, 

" ' C. M. Newbeck, 

"'H. Oswald, 

" ' Charles Strobel.' 



RAPID EXTENSION OF THE WORK. 38 

" Also, since coming into the church this evening, we have re- 
ceived encouragement from another source : 

(li Greenfield Lodge, No. 318, F. and A. M. 
" ( lo the Ladies of the Temperance League of Greenfield, 0. — Greeting: 

" l Whereas, This lodge has long felt the importance of sup- 
pressing the liquor traffic in our midst; and, Whereas, The noble 
women of our town have banded themselves together, and have gone 
forth, in the strength of Israel's God, to pray for and plead with 
those engaged in a business that is desolating so many homes to 
abandon such business ; therefore, be it 

" 'Resolved, That we tender our heartfelt sympathy to the ladies 
of the League engaged in this glorious work of reformation, and 
hope you will never cease your labor of love until victory perches 
upon the temperance banner — until there shall not be one place in 
our town where intoxicating liquor is sold as a beverage. 

" ' Horace Strickland, Secretary. 

"' Greenfield, O., February 4, 1874.' 

" In the afternoon, at the ringing of the bell, we were glad when 
they said unto us, ' Let us go into the house of the Lord/ still re- 
membering the precious season of this morning. 

" Although it had been announced that the services were to be 
a * Children's Meeting/ not one of the little bright-eyed types of 
innocence listened more attentively, nor enjoyed the meeting bet- 
ter, than the old brothers and sisters, the fathers and mothers, or 
the gray-haired grandfathers and grandmothers; for our Savior 
said, ' Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye 
shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.' 

"It was a pleasure, too, to know that the saloons of our town 
were closed with the other business establishments all day, and to 
have the proprietors come out to church with us as our brethren. 
'Oh, that they were wise; that they would understand this; that 
they would consider their latter end ! How should one chase a 
thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their rock has 
sold them, and the Lord had shut them up ? For their rock is 
not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being our judges. * 
* * * Their wine is the poison of dragons and the cruel venom 
of asps. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among 
my treasures ? To me belongeth vengeance and recompense ; 
their foot shall slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is 
at hand, and the things Chat shall come upon them make haste/ 

" KATE DWYER, Secretary" 



34 THE women's war on whisky. 

Men may say what they please about the weakness 
of being moved by such demonstrations — and those 
who can keep out of the way do say a great deal ; but 
when one gets into the midst of it and sees old gray- 
h aired mothers and middle-aged matrons pleading with 
rum-sellers not to ruin their peace and that of the com- 
munity, it has a telling effect. When kept up a few 
days the whole community is warmed, the latent sym- 
pathy is aroused, and a glow spreads among all classes ; 
the whisky men are soon made to feel that everybody 
is against them, and unless endowed with a great deal 
of brute-nerve they fly or yield. It is easy to yield; 
hard to hold out. It requires immense moral force to 
withstand a whole community, even when one has the 
right back of him. But what has the saloon-keeper 
to fall back upon? 

The element of love and good will in this movement 
makes it a hard thing to fight. One lady at Green- 
field remarked on this point : 

"We intend to cure this disease by a better treatment that shall 
not leave a drug disease in the system. Extirpation by law would 
leave hatreds and jealousies in the community ; but prayer and 
good words leave no sting behind. We don't intend to try legal 
remedies till prayer and good words are exhausted, and love has 
lost its power; and we don't intend that shall be until the whole 
work is accomplished." 

And truly there is philosophy in this. 3>r. Clinton 
could not always withstand the prayers and pleadings 
of good women, his neighbors ; he yielded at last, with 
the best of grace, and now Greenfield is freed from the 
curse and without any bitter memories to disturb her 
peace. The ladies there have been earnest in assist- 
ing other places, helping on the temperance cause by 
every means in their power. 



RAPID EXTENSION OF THE WORK. 35 

New Vienna, a few miles west of Greenfield, was 
destined to an unpleasant notoriety for a time as the 
home of "the wickedest man in Ohio." The move- 
ment began there the second week in January, and in 
a week all the saloons were closed but two: one kept 
by a German woman, named Eice, and the other, a 
regular u dead-fall" near the depot, by John Calvin 
Van Pelt. He seemed to hold to predestination, for he 
swore that all the prayers of all the women in New 
Vienna would never move him, and that he would 
" baptize the women if they troubled him again." The 
next day, when they entered the saloon, they were 
ordered to leave in so many minutes. Not to be fright- 
ened, they commenced their devotional exercises. When 
the words " May the Lord baptize him with his holy 
spirit," were spoken, Van Pelt hurled a bucket of filthy 
water at them, saying : " G — d — you, I'll baptize you." 
Several buckets of water were thrown, but the ladies 
heroically stood to their post, although drenched with 
dirty water. Water failing, beer was thrown, until the 
ladies were compelled to retire to the outside of the 
door, where they concluded their devotions. Mean- 
while Van Pelt stood at the window, relieving himself 
of all the filthy epithets known to that class of men. 
When the procession started to leave the door was 
thrown open and all invited to come in — that they 
could have whisky by the pint or half-pint, to suit cus- 
tomers. 

Nothing but the intercession of the ladies prevented 
a mob. Van Pelt was arrested, put in jail, bailed out, 
then arrested on another charge. He came out again 
more bitter than ever, and for ten days there w T as great 
bitterness in New Vienna. If it had been between men 
alone, he would either have been killed, or fighting 



36 the women's war on whisky. 

yet; but the whole affair was put under the direction 
of the ladies, and like all the rest Yan Pelt yielded at 
last. He had become so notorious that when it was 
rumored about town that he was ready to surrender 
all the church bells rang merrily, and nearly every- 
body in town assembled at the " dead-fall." After ar- 
riving at his door the women commenced singing, and 
Van Pelt and several ministers commenced rolling out 
the whisky, etc., and also the fixtures. Van Pelt then 
requested that as this was a woman's meeting, and 
their work, he wished the men to cross the street, with 
the exception of the ministers, who were allowed to 
remain. The men consented to his request and left. 
He then rolled out one barrel of whisky, one barrel of 
cider, and one keg of beer, and with an ax knocked in 
the heads of all. 

Then, after singing and prayer, he made a few re- 
marks, saying : " Ladies, I now promise you to never 
sell or drink another drop of whisky as long as I live, 
and also promise to work with you in the cause with 
as much zeal as I have worked against you." He also 
remarked that he hoped the women of the United 
States would never cease until every drop of whisky 
was emptied upon the ground as his was. 

This was on the 4th of February. Mrs. Eice sur- 
rendered the same day, and in one week thereafter 
Van Pelt was traveling as a temperance lecturer I As 
a matter of unusual interest I present his first speech, 
delivered at Hillsboro, February 7th, before the mass 
temperance convention. First apologizing for the 
grammatical mistakes that he might make, as he was 
not an educated man, he spoke as follows : 

lt The question of the greatest moment to us who are now en- 
gaged in this temperance reform is, whether we are working in 



RAPID EXTENSION OF THE WORK. 37 

the right way. Various ways have been tried in the last sixty 
years, and they have all failed; and why? because there was no 
heart in them. Men undertook them and failed because they were 
not sufficiently interested. I believe that these noble women have 
found the right way, that it is their work, that they are the in- 
jured parties, and that they alone can succeed, trusting as they do 
in the help of Almighty God." 

Here Van Pelt answered, in a very satisfactory way, 
many of the arguments which he had himself used in 
favor of the business, when he was first visited by the 
temperance ladies. He then continued as follows : . 

" How would men proceed if they wanted to dry up the Ohio 
River? Would not their efforts be directed to drying up the foun- 
tains that feed it? Then only would their purpose be accomplished. 
So it is with you, dear sisters. Although many say that you are 
not accomplishing much, that you have too great a task before you, 
don't be discouraged. You are drying up the fountains (now this 
one, now that) that feed this great river of intemperance. All 
over our State these fountains are being dried up, and soon your 
prayers will be answered by an Almighty God, and this great curse 
will be eternally swept from our land. I am requested by some of 
these gentlemen to give you some of my experience, but I don't 
like to do it, for I am ashamed to think how I made these dear 
sisters suffer. Since I am a changed man, I don't like to speak 
about it. You all know what a monster I have been pictured ; 
what a hard case I was, almost a demon in human form ; what 
outrageous acts I have done. When these dear sisters called on 
me first, I looked at this question through the green spectacles of 
greenbacks, and I endeavored in every manner to drive these 
brave suffering women away. In addition to my own determina- 
tion, I had strong inducements offered me to hold out ; why, one 
wholesale whisky man, from Cincinnati, said to me: i Van Pelt, 
how much will you take to hold out a year?' I told him that I 
was a free rmn, and that I intended to keep free; that I had no 
price. Why, that man offered to furnish me, free of all charge, all 
the whisky, wine, and beer that I could sell in Vienna in a year, if 
I only would hold out. I tell you that man's proposition set me 
to thinking that their foundations were getting mighty shaky, if 



38 the women's war on whisky. 

they were obliged to offer such inducements. I knew all the time 
I was doing wrong, but after that, I came to the conclusion that a 
man who could be hired to do wrong was the meanest kind of a 
man. I saw myself as my neighbor saw me. Could I be a man, 
and take the last dime from a drunkard, without seeing the suffer- 
ing faces of starving children ever before me? I saw myself the 
monster that I was pictured, and last Monday morning I saw those 
dear sisters kneeling in the sleet and snow of that terrible day, and 
heard them offering such fervent prayers for blessings on me, I 
almost felt that my hand would be paralyzed if ever again I re- 
ceived the drunkard's money, and I dared not longer refuse the 
visitation of my God. I was conquered then, but I did not give 
up until a few days later. I tell you, friends, I slept well after 
that, and now to-day, friends, Vienna is free, and every face you 
meet is a smiling one; you can feel the working of the Almighty 
God, and soon I hope that this blessed peace will be all over the 
land, and the great curse swept away." 

During the delivery of this Mr. Van Pelt was fre- 
quently applauded. "Hold on, my brother, hold on," 
was then enthusiastically sung. 

Morrow, thirty miles from Cincinnati, at the junc- 
tion of the Little Miami and Muskingum Valley Rail- 
roads, presented probably the most hopeless prospect 
in Ohio to the crusaders; and the ladies of that place 
may justly claim the honor of having finished the 
hardest task of all. In Washington the movement had 
the advantage of novelty ; in other places there was 
only a limited interest in the liquor business. But 
Morrow had all the disadvantages of both city and 
country, and the advantages of neither. Here is the 
state of facts, existing January 26, when the ladies 
began their work : 

Population, eleven hundred; drinking places, fif- 
teen; increase of population in ten years, two hundred 
persons ; increase of municipal taxation, one hundred 
and thirty percent.; decline in business reported at 



RAPID EXTENSION OF THE WORK. 39 

twenty -five per cent,; manufactures nothing, and no 
increase in the value of property; eighteen vacant 
dwelling-houses, and numbers of the best citizens re- 
moved. Such are the facts given me by the "old and 
reliable." Verily, it was time for the law or the gospel 
to do something. The place has a beautiful and ro- 
mantic site. They have three railroads, and expect 
connection soon with a trunk line to the East. On one 
side is the river, and on the other the beautiful hill, 
with hundreds of sites for palatial residences. In the 
neighborhood is good fishing and hunting, and all 
around is scenery unsurpassed in the State of Ohio. 
Apparently, this is just the place for a favorite sum- 
mer resort. 

Twenty-five years ago Morrow had aspirations. 
There were, and are, unsurpassed facilities for man- 
facturing — still unimproved. Three large hotels at 
that time were filled most of the summer with fam- 
ilies and visitors from Cincinnati. The society was 
good ; church, school, and lyceum were thoroughly or- 
ganized, and, besides the manufacturing interests which 
were being established, the place expected to become 
a city of elegant retired country seats. Somehow the 
saloons got the start, the manufacturers took the alarm, 
the expected good families did not come, and many that 
were here moved away. If the place has improved in 
twenty years, that fact is not apparent to the naked 
eye. Still there are many good families in Morrow. 
They have borne the demoralization and tyranny of 
the whisky power until it has become a question of life 
and death with them; and they have entered on this 
struggle in the spirit which patriots fight for their 
homes ; feeling that unless they conquer, they must 
emigrate. It was not a question of philanthropy 



40 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

alone, and other people's good, here as in some places; 
they must conquer or die. 

The good women entered upon the almost hopeless 
task, and by incessant labor literally created a health- 
ful public sentiment — it is safe to say that little of it 
existed before — and in one month had closed two- 
thirds of the saloons. I visited Morrow soon after the 
movement was inaugurated, and was witness to many 
painful and affecting scenes. It seemed to me that the 
place was whisky-ridden, and sold wholly to Satan ; 
and T could but look upon the praying women as those 
who labor without hope. But the sequel showed that 
I had underrated the power in this movement. I was 
present at a meeting in one saloon, known as the 
"Blue Goose," kept by a woman. She had several 
young children, who stood around in open-mouthed : 
wonder — too young to know what it all meant. The 
ladies completely filled the little "shanty," and after 
the singing Mrs. J. Graham offered up a fervent prayer. 
Never was there an orator who more fully realized the 
situation and fitted the words to the case. It was pre- 
eminently the prayer of a mother, for a mother, and 
in the interest of all mothers. As her earnest, plead- 
ing petition arose that these children might never 
suffer from the evils to which they were daily exposed, 
tears rolled down many faces, and the few revellers 
who had been surprised in the saloon, withdrew 
silently, with impressions they can not soon shake 6ff. 

At this writing Morrow has but two saloons remain- 
ing, both closely besieged, and nearly the entire popu- 
lation have signed the personal pledge. One saloonist 
obtained a legal injunction against theladies, of which 
a particular account is given under the proper head- 
ing. 



CAMPAIGN OF DIO LEWIS. 41 



CHAPTEE IV. 

CAMPAIGN OP DIO LEWIS. 

Indications now pointed toward a national move- 
ment in- the interests of temperance. Daily papers 
filled their columns with particular accounts of the 
work in various places. On a single day tha Cincin- 
nati Commercial and Gazette contained reports, by letter 
or telegraph, from fifty towns where the movement 
was in progress. The press of the Eastern cities began 
to give full details, and commented with various de- 
grees of praise or blame. A few earnest temperance 
men felt bound to disapprove the methods of the move- 
ment, but the majority looked upon it as an opening 
of Providence for the more rapid regeneration of 
humanity. Henry Ward Beecher pronounced it " a 
wonderful religious revival, with a special look toward 
temperance." Dr. Dio Lewis, by virtue of having 
first suggested the movement, suddenly found himself 
in demand. The temperance men of Boston decided 
to inaugurate the movement in their State, and con- 
cluded to begin at Worcester. They called Dr. Lewis 
to assist them, but he replied that "the best point to 
fight intemperance in Massachusetts was just now in 
Ohio." He would come here, devote a few weeks to 
the work, then return and enter upon a campaign in 
Massachusetts. With this purpose he came to Cincin- 
nati, having telegraphed the noted Van Pelt to meet 
him at the Burnet House. There he suggested to the 
latter that a relation of his experience, and the evils 
2* 



42 the women's war on whisky. 

of the liquor traffic, which he knew, by long observa- 
tion, would be of great advantage to the temperance 
cause. Van Pelt consented to serve the cause in that 
way, and a campaign was at once arranged, taking in 
all points where the movement needed a start or en- 
couragement. Four journalists, representing various 
Cincinnati papers and the New York Tribune, accom- 
panied the two temperance apostles; and the tour was 
one of great interest. 

Xenia was the first point where Dr. Lewis was 
called upon to show his abilities as an organizer. It 
was one of the places the crusaders against whisky 
have hesitated to attack; not that it is exceptionally 
bad, but it has the two disadvantages — it is a city of 
eight thousand people, and a rather conservative, aris- 
tocratic one. Even among the most sanguine reform- 
ers, one often hears this expression: " It will work 
first-rate in j)laces of two or three thousand, but when 
they come to the larger cities, they'll be defeated." 

An immense audience welcomed the Doctor, and he 
plunged at once into the subject by stating that he con- 
sidered this the most important meeting ever held in 
Xenia. He continued : U I feel a deep anxiety lest the 
little I have to say shall not be well said, for this move- 
ment of the praying women of Ohio has got beyond the 
direction of any one man; its control belongs only to 
God." Some startling statements from various judges 
were then presented, as to the proportion of crimes 
caused by intoxication, the speaker having the testi- 
mony of nineteen eminent jurists, none of whom were 
temperance men. 

In a meeting he had recently attended, a clergy- 
man had recommended the introduction of the light 
wines of France and Germany to suppress our fiery 



CAMPAIGN OF DIO LEWIS. 43 

stimulants; but, said the Doctor, I would not walk 
across the street to aid any temperance reform that 
did not plant its two feet square on the rock of total 
abstinence. [Applause.] 

Dr. J. G-. Holland had stood for twenty years directly 
in the path of the temperance reformation of New 
England by his position on this subject. Said he: 
"You are not going to work in the right way; men 
will have stimulants of some kind, the desire for them 
is as natural as for air and sunlight. In Southern Eu- 
rope every one drinks his half pint or pint of wine 
daily, and is the better for it. Let us induce our peo- 
ple to use these stimulants and all will be well." At 
last Dr. Holland went to Europe, and what did he see? 
He is a man that prides himself on his consistency. 
A great deal of his time is taken up in proving that he 
does not change ; that he thinks just as he did seven- 
teen hundred years ago — more or less. But when he 
got to Southern Europe he took the back track for the 
first time, so far as I know, in his life. Said he: "God 
forbid that the drinking customs of my country should 
be changed for those of this land! Bad as they are 
there, they are worse here." I too went to Southern 
Europe, where men use these light wines. And what 
is the secret of their demoralization there? The wo- 
men drink!! Every woman as well as every man; 
and during the time I was there I never heard a wo- 
man decline to drink, except because of sickness; and 
one hour after dinner you could see the effect of wine 
drinking in the face and eye of every woman of the 
company ! And it is only because the praying mothers 
and faithful wives of Ohio do not drink that they 
hate, loathe, abhor the deadly stuff, that they fight it 



44 the women's war on whisky. 

from their houses as the f>resence of death, that any 
such movement as this is possible. 

A scathing criticism of moderate drinkers followed. 
Who, he asked, set the example which young drinkers 
follow? Evidently not the drunkards, the men who 
get drunk every time they get the means; for all 
classes look upon them as disgusting. Nor is it the 
middle class, who drink habitually and get drunk oc- 
casionally ; for in every family and social circle you 
will hear them spoken of thus: "Mr. A. has a good 
bank account now, but if he goes on this way five 
years, it won't be so. Mr. B.'s credit is good to-day, 
but he will be a pauper in ten years if he don't let 
liquor alone. No; no young man feels called on to 
imitate them. No; it is the nice, elegant fellows, who 
turn up delicate cut glasses, and sip the finest foreign 
wines; or the sturdy, honest old gentleman who takes 
only pure Bourbon ; and the families that keep a little 
cordial for sociability, or a bottle of brandy in the 
house " for fear some should be taken suddenly sick in 
the night!" These are the men who set the fashion, 
whose every word and motion was imitated. For it is 
but a few men who set the style for a place; it is but a 
small number of women who determine the fashion. 
And there are women, and in the best society, to our 
shame be it said, who serve as agents to recruit the 
devil's army of drunkards. 

Mrs. Colonel Smith smiles sweetly the first day of 
January, as she says to the innocent young man who 
calls, "Take a glass of wine with me before you go." 
And to that young man she is a very goddess, moving 
before him in trailing clouds of beauty. The woman 
who would thus let herself down to be an enlisting 
officer for the devil's army of drunkards should be 



CAMPAIGN OF DIO LEWIS. 45 

tabooed, inexorably shut out from all respectable so- 
eiety forever [Prolonged applause]. A series of 
interesting sketches followed, showing that the 
speaker could drop occasionally from the severe to the 
lively and amusing; but through them all ran the one 
general moral. There is no safety but in total absti- 
nence, and the moderate drinkers set the example 
which makes drunkards. 

The Doctor gave an exceedingly interesting account 
of his childhood ; that his father died a miserable 
drunkard, and the town where he resided was being 
ruined by rum, when the mothers of the place rose in 
a body and begged, pleaded, and prayed with the rum- 
sellers till the town was cleared of the traffic. He then 
addressed himself to the question : " What shall be 
done?" 

Nothing had ever raised communities to such a 
height of moral sublimity as this women's temperance 
movement of Ohio. Three hundred times, he said, 
have I given temperance lectures in which I urged 
this movement, and never found the soil fit for it be- 
fore. Now that it has come, I almost fear to touch it, 
lest I hinder. When I saw the women at Morrow 
praying in front of that saloon, I felt weak — too weak 
to add any thing to the power at work — and I knew 
then why Brother Van Pelt had surrendered. He 
must have been half crocodile, half tiger, and all devil 
to have withstood it. Now friends, the hour of action 
has come. I propose this plan : We want a chairman, 
four secretaries, and ten speeches of two or three min- 
utes each by clergymen and leading citizens. 

On motion of a citizen, Dr. Lewis himself was unani- 
mously chosen chairman, and Messrs. Dodds, Stein, 
Colonel Findley, of the Xenia Gazette, and Eev. Mr. 



46 the women's war on whisky 

Marley, named as secretaries. Short and pointed 
speeches were then made by Eev. Mr. Bedel, of the 
Baptist Church, Eev. Mr. Ealston, of the Presbyterian, 
Eev. J. G. Carson, of the United Presbyterian, Eev. 
Messrs. Morehead and Starr, Mr. Shaeffer, Eev. Mr. 
Yockey, and Eev. Marlay. All were enthusiastic in 
favor of a forward movement; but two expressed 
doubts as to whether it was quite time for favorable 
action, and whether the system proposed was the best. 
At the call for volunteers a hundred and fifty women 
enlisted for the war. 

I left Xenia with the impression that it was too 
rigidly conservative for the temperance war ; a week 
after I returned and found the city ablaze with 
excitement. At least five hundred ladies were in the 
movement, either directly at work or lending assist- 
ance to those who were. Every respectable family in 
the place w T as represented. The Scotch Seceders, 
who are numerous there, were peculiarly active. 
Ladies who had obeyed St. Paul's (supposed) injunc- 
tion most religiously, now prayed in the streets with 
the fervor of Methodist exhorters. Ministers who had 
written elaborately to prove that Christians should 
sing only the metrical version of the Psalms (in ac- 
cordance with the creed of that church), now sang a 
campaign temperance song to the inspiring tune of 
"John Brown's Body." The wall of separation be-, 
tween the various churches seemed completely broken 
down. Heretofore the attentive observer, hearing a 
prayer could distinguish by the tone and style whether 
it was by a Seceder, Methodist, or other sectarian. 
But now the nicest ear could not distinguish; all 
prayed just alike. All seemed as sisters in Christ, 
and the sanguine were led to hope that this movement 



CAMPAIGN OF DIO LEWIS. 47 

would even lead to a complete union between the 
sects. 

I was witness to one most remarkable scene ; prob 
ably the most thrilling in the course of this movement. 
On Whiteman street, in a space of six hundred yards, 
were nine saloons, several of such bad repute that 
they were known as "Shades of Death,' "Mule's 
Ear," "Certain Death," "Hell's Half- Acre," and 
"Devil's Den." Yisiting this locality I found five 
bands of ladies at work. Miss Laura Hicks, teacher, 
had brought her entire school of young girls to the 
work for the afternoon, and they were singing in 
front of Glossinger's saloon. On each side extended a 
long line of spectators, leaving only a narrow space in 
the middle of the street. Led by their teacher, the 
children sang : 

" Say, Mr. Barkeeper, has father been here ?" 
Those familiar with that song will remember that 
the child is represented as seeking his father through 
all his usual haunts, and finding him in jail for 
some offense committed when drunk ; that he then 
intercedes with the jailer, and finally convinces him 
that it was not his father who committed the offense, 
but the liquor that drove him wild. There was more 
than one among the spectators to whom that poetry 
represented literal fact. Again the children sang; 
then extracts from S.cripture were read, and a lady 
with a clear, sweet voice offered a fervent prayer : 

" O, Lord, our Helper in time of need, we prostrate ourselves in 
the dust before Thee to beg for the lives of our fathers, our broth- 
ers, our sons. God, help us to save dying men. Help us to res- 
cue the idols of our love. Dying men are all around us; they 
crowd us in the street; we look upon them in our homes; we shed 
tears of bitter anguish because we can not save them from this 



48 the women's war on whisky. 

traffic of death. O Lord, our God, cons : der our tears, our breaking 
hearts, and send us help to fight this monster of intemperance. 
How long, O Lord, how long! Must we suffer on and on while we 
have left the power to suffer. O God, consider the tears of the op- 
pressed ; for on the side of the oppressor is power, which Thou 
alone can crush. Give us, oh! give us back our brothers who are 
swept away by this torrent 'of intemperance. Come, dear Lord, 
and touch the hearts of the dealers in ardent spirits. Send down 
Thy spirit on this poor man who still turns a deaf ear to our 
pleading. He will not listen to us. Oh! do Thou soften his 
heart, that he may know -our agony and cease to put evil in the 
path of those we love* Give us access to the heart of this man. 
Bless him, O Lord; bless him with the riches of Thy grace. 
Send Thy ministering Spirit upon him and his family. We know 
not how to plead as we ought. We know not the way to his heart. 
Oh ! grant that no weak or foolish act of ours may injure the cause 
of Christ or throw discredit on any good work. Do thou guide and 
control us; make our weakness strength, and teach us how to pray 
and labor as we ought. O Lord, our God, wilt Thou not listen to 
the prayer of those made desolate by rum. Here bowed before 
Thee are widows, orphans, made such by this traffic — this traffic 
we must call accursed, for Thou hast cursed it in Thy holy word. 
God, withhold the hand of him who would put the bottle to his 
neighbor's mouth. We feel encouraged to labor on against this 
traffic which we know Thou hast condemned. Oh, teach us how to 
work and give us the victory. Grant that the rule of temperance 
and law may be set up, and that righteousness may flow as a river 
and the knowledge of God cover the whole earth. Then will our 
sons no longer fall before- those who lie in wait for their souls ; then 
will our daughters no longer mourn because of the traffic in rum. 
And bring us all, both the dealer in rum and those who fall by the 
traffic, to see more clearly the light of Thy truth, and finally unite 
us at Thy right hand, we ask for Jesus' sake, Amen." 

Again the children sang, and while the crowd of 
some hundreds slowly dispersed, different ladies read 
extracts from the Scriptures. All this time a plump 
and healthy looking German woman sat at an upper 
window in the besieged house and looked down with 



CAMPAIGN OF DIO LEWIS. 49 

indifference upon the ladies. Sometimes she held up 
her youngest child for him to take a look at the scene, 
and again laughed and nodded to acquaintances over 
the way. She was not even sufficiently interested to 
get angry. 

I had just returned to the hotel after this scene when 
I heard a great shout in the street, and soon after all 
the church bells in the city commenced ringing. At 
the same time there arose a prolonged cheering from 
the Grangers' Convention, just across the street from 
the hotel, and it was evident that something unusual 
had happened. Going out, I saw crowds of people 
thronging toward Whiteman street, and heard on every 
hand in joyful accent, "The 'Shades of Death' has un- 
conditionally surrendered." The good news proved 
true, and I found Whiteman street thronged with peo- 
ple. At a little before 3 o'clock, as it appeared from 
the general account, Mr. Steve Phillips, proprietor of 
the " Shades of Death," invited the ladies to enter, and 
announced that he gave up every thing to them, and 
would never sell anything intoxicating in Xenia again. 
Then the ladies, joined by the spectators, sang "Praise 
God, from whom all blessings flow," while the liquors 
were rolled into the street. A half barrel of black- 
berry brandy, the same of highwines, a few kegs of 
beer, and some bottles of ale and whisky were soon 
emptied into the street, amid the shouts of an enthusi- 
astic multitude. The leading lady then announced 
that if Mr. Phillips went into any other business in 
Xenia they should feel it a duty to support him ; a dis- 
patch was sent to the Grangers, eliciting three cheers, 
and all the bells were set ringing in honor of the first 
great victory. When I arrived the liquor had mostly 
collected in one depression in the street, and such 
3 



50 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

a stench went up, "a rank offense, that smelt to 
heaven," as made me think it a very fortunate thing 
for somebody's stomach that the liquor had been poured 
out. Of the women around, some were crying, some 
laughing, a few alternately singing and returning 
thanks. One elderly lady in the edge of the crowd 
was almost in hysterics, but still shouting in a hoarse 
whisper such as one often hears at camp meeting : 
"Bless the Lord! O-o-o, bless the Lord." She had 
the appearance of a lady in good circumstances, and a 
citizen informed me that she is ordinarily one of the 
quietest, most placid of women. One of her sons died 
of intemperance, and another is much addicted to 
liquor. On every side nothing was witnessed but 
smiles, laughter, tears, prayers, hand-shakings, and 
congratulations. 

The * c Shades of Death" was considered by the tem- 
perance party as the " back-bone of the rebellion," 
and within twenty-four hours four more saloons had 
surrendered. The movement continues with unabated 
vigor, and only twelve saloons remain. Twenty-nine 
have been closed. 

Prom Xenia the apostles of temperance, accom- 
panied by the journalists, went to Springfield. On 
the evening of February 11th sixteen hundred people 
crowded the Opera House to its utmost capacity. On 
the stand were " Mother Stewart," Eev. Mr. Bennett 
and other ministers of the city, Mr. Clifton Nichols, 
editor of the Republic, and the representatives of five 
journals. Mr. Nichols, the Chairman, stated that Dr. 
Lewis desired them to hear Mr. Van Pelt give an 
account of his " closing day " in New Vienna. That 
gentleman advanced to the front and plunged at once 
in medias res. He gave a lengthy account of his feel 



CAMPAIGN OF DIO LEWIS. 51 

ings as the ladies came day after day; told what his 
legal advisers said to him, but "thanked God that he 
took the turn of his own mind, and let them legal 
gentlemen take their own course. " 

" Now the men outside had tried various means to make me 
surrender, but it warn't a bit of use. When I told the ladies 
I would decide, I saw them coming down the street, funeral 
file, that afternoon. I never had anything come over me 
like that — coming to pray for I, that had dealt out that that 
ruined 'em to their fathers and brothers and sons. I couldn't ask 
more to know they was sincere. I turned to Brothers Winter 
and Hill and said, ' Will you carry out the whisky ?' I never 
seed such a look as they give me. I reckon they thought I was 
jestin'; but for all that they was mighty willin'. * * * * * 
And when the whisky run out there went up such a shout as 
I never heern before and never expect to agin. And there were 
such faces — more nearer to angel faces than I ever expect to see 
till I stand in the presence of God. There was old man Hill, and 
old man Johnson, that hadn't shed a tear, I reckon, for ten years, 
cried like children ; and they hugged me and cried ; and every- 
body was happy because the last whisky shop in Vienna had 
surrendered. And we all said God was in it, and the movement 
never would stop till all the whisky shops was driv' out of the 
State." 

Everybody laughed encouragingly at the young 
convert's idiomatic English; then Dr. Lewis gave a 
somewhat startling discourse, on " pure and drugged 
liquors." He did not sympathize with the wish for 
pure liquors; on the contrary, he considered the poison 
compounder the friend of temperance. He did not 
know of any drug so deadly that it would not improve 
whisky. He would bid the mixers God speed, if it be 
lawful to use the name of God in such a connection. 
There is no nonsense so pervading and injurious as 
this talk about unadulterated liquors. Men say, " O, 
if we only had the pure liquors that our grandfathers 



52 THE WOMEN'S AVAR ON WHISKY. 

had, we would live on as they did; it is this poison 
stuff that kills us off." It is all nonsense. The reason 
liquor hurts ns worse than our grandfathers is the 
difference in other physical conditions. They worked 
hard in the open air, lived on coarse food, and though 
they drank often, did live out three-fourths of their 
days. The men who live in the open air now, who 
start with a good constitution and unusual physical 
advantages, can live as long. Be not deceived. Alco- 
hol is poison — it is poison — it is poison! The more 
deadly it can be made the better. If a man has be- 
come a habitual drinker, the sooner he dies the less 
harm he does. Is it not better for him to go in a year 
or two, than to go on a curse to himself and the world 
for twenty? If the whisky could be so mixed that it 
would kill a man in three days, it would be a glorious 
thing for temperance. 

This radical doctrine somewhat astonished the au- 
dience, and was savagely criticized by the press; but 
the Doctor stoutly maintains the correctness of his 
position. After the Doctor several persons made short 
speeches. I only present^ entire that of " Mother 
Stewart," as she is a sort of pioneer in the cause: 

"God seems to be giving us the desire of our hearts, but we 
have a very peculiar warfare here. I can not describe it. We 
never did anything until we started to work at the saloons. It 
seemed to me that we were only beating the air. Four months 
have passed since that poor woman came to me for help for her- 
self and children against the rumsellers that were killing her 
husband. I told her to-day to come here to-night, and see if this 
meeting gave her hope; and she is in the audience. At last the 
people are interested, some actual drunkards, and young men, 
drinkers but not yet drunkards, have taken my' hand and said to 
me, l Go on, Mother Stewart ; we do hope you will succeed. ' Some- 
times I have felt so discouraged I almost wished that God would 



CAMPAIGN OF DIO LEWIS. 53 

lay me on a bed of sickness, for I might be an obstacle in the way 
of reform. Still we worked on. I felt when that poor woman 
came to me, that our great reliance must be in prayer. The great 
question was — could we succeed in that way in this city? At last 
we went forth, and then a host of friends seemed to spring out of 
the ground. The burden of this thing has been on my mind till 
I have felt that I could not live unless we went forward. We 
could not trust to other causes. The politicians admit that they 
are powerless. They are so entangled that they can not act. 

"On Monday two or three went ou& and prayed. Good women 
came and prayed with us, and at last, yesterday, we went to the 
saloons, twenty or thirty of us, and to-day more came — yes, sev- 
enty or eighty, and you all know the result. Many gentlemen 
have said to me, 'Those places must be closed/ but I felt almost 
in despair when I received a telegram from Dr. Lewis. As our 
band increased there was a great crowd of men and boys, but they 
were very polite and respectful. They only seemed anxious to 
see and hear. To-day we visited the Lagonda House saloon ; the 
proprietor treated us very kindly, but locked the outside door to 
keep the crowd out. He gave us the billiard rooms, and we had 
a very precious season there. At the next place I tried to talk a 
crowd collected. The man came out and said, 'Get away, get 
away, every one of you; I don't want any trespassers; you shan't 
stand on my steps.' But I was never more composed. When I 
started down from the porch a hundred voices said, 'Stay where 
you are.' 'Go on, Mother Stewart, go on.' Then a policeman 
took the man in, and when we were ready to teave, he came out 
in good humor and bid us good day." 

A gentleman of rather quiet style afterward said on 
this subject: 

"If that fellow had touched one hair of Mother Stewart's gray 
head, his house would have been leveled to the ground." 

There is nothing more curious in the phenomena of 
the movement than the general respect, amounting 
almost to love or hero worship, which some of the 
worst rummies and saloonists feel for the good ladies 



54 the women's war on whisky. 

engaged. "Mother" Stewart has warm friends among 
the worst people in Springfield. 

Short and pithy speeches were made by General 
Keifer, Eev. Mr. Bennett, Eev. Mr. Spring, L. H. 
Olds, A. E. Ludlow, Eev. Mr. Seaver, and Eev. Mr. 
Dutton. A regular organization was then perfected. 
The work still goes on in Springfield, and the ladies 
are confident of final success ; but there have been few 
surrenders, and many hindrances. This was the first 
trial in a city of more than eight thousand people ; 
and it seems to show that the difficulties in every 
large city will be very great. In such there are 
saloonatics enough to keep each other in countenance; 
they have a business association and society of their 
own, and by alliances with political parties and social 
circles they are imbedded in the very structure of 
society, and it is like cutting out a cancer to remove 
them — the wound will be deep and the process danger- 
ous. 

A greater difficulty is a lack of unity in other 
parties ; there is too much diversity of interests. Men 
do not get so close together and know each other so 
well as in the country places. If all the temperance 
men could be drawn to one side and make a fair 
attack on the saloonatics, they would gladly do so; 
but each man fears that in striking at them he is 
striking at his neighbor and indirectly at himself. 

But the greatest difficulty is with the ladies them- 
selves, and their natural tendency not to unite. In a 
small place all respectable ladies are in one social 
order; church and society blend insensibly, and it 
is comparatively easy to unite the good women for 
any good object. But in a city there are scores of 
cliques, circles, and social strata. Eminently respect- 



CAMPAIGN OF DIO LEWIS. 55 

able people in one circle do not know equally respect- 
able people in another ; and nearly all women are 
afraid of nearly all other women, until they get pretty 
well acquainted. All true women shrink from pub- 
licity or open manifestations of the emotions; and for 
obvious reasons those in a city much more than those 
in the country, who are known to all they are likely 
to meet. So much for human calculation ; but a cause 
may be so important, and acquire such momentum, 
that it will sweep in all ladies of all the social strata. 
In that case, Springfield, according to her population, 
will have a thousand ladies at work instead of a hun- 
dred, and her saloons can then be closed just as surely 
as the rum-holes of Washington or New Vienna. 

From Springfield the temperance missionaries went 
down to Lebanon, where a sort of legal fight was in 
progress. The temperance men — no women taking 
part — had employed a Cincinnati detective who put 
in one week in Lebanon, and got evidence enough 
to close all the saloons by law but one. It was a bad 
time then to inaugurate the Women's Movement, 
nevertheless they determined to try it. Eight hun- 
dred people filled Washington Hall, among them a 
delegation from Shaker Village. Van Pelt dramatized 
his conversion and surrender, to the intense delight 
of the audience. Lewis incited to immediate action. 
Ten minute speeches were made by Eev. Burroughs. 
Dr. Byers, Eev. Clark, Eev. Eoberts, Rev. Sprole, 
Messrs. Fox, Holbrook, Crothers, Kinsey. Wilson, 
Judge Keys, Graham, and D. B. Van Pelt, of the 
Normal School. The audience voted unanimously, by 
a rising vote, to sustain the ladies in any move they 
decided upon, with moral support and money ; and 
the movement was regularly organized. But the love- 



56 the women's war on whisky. 

cure after the law-cure did not work well ; too much 

ill-feeling had been excited, but at the end of three 

weeks' work the Secretary of the Temperance League 

sends us this report : 

u Lebanon, O m February 27, 1874. 

" Legal prosecutions began about January 4, and the women's 
movement February 14, with one hundred and fifty women now at 
work. Two saloons have closed, and one drug store has signed 
the pledge. One saloon and two drug stores are still at work. 
Though the pledge has just been started, six hundred have signed." 

Thence we crossed to Franklin, on the C. C. C. & I. 
Road (" Dayton Short Line "), where the women had 
already prayed six saloons out of town, and were at 
work on the seventh and last. It is an old-fashioned 
"water-rats' " retreat, on the bank of the canal, kept 
by a Mr. Monger, who bids fair to become notorious as 
the only white man in Ohio who is unmoved by 
prayers, tears, or entreaties. He still holds out, and 
will, probably, until the law shuts up his saloon, as it 
is now likely to do. 

Miss Sarah Butler, of Franklin, has achieved almost 
a national reputation by her labors in the temperance 
cause. Mr. Handy, of the New York Tribune, in our 
party, was so struck with the prayer she uttered in 
front of Monger's saloon that he telegraphed it entire 
to the Tribune. I heard her afterward, at the State 
Convention, give a simple account of their labors in 
Franklin ; and, when she concluded, in that audience 
of twelve hundred people, I think there were not a 
score of eyes free from tears. So wonderful is the elo- 
quence of pure, unaffected nature, when pleading in a 
good cause. 

The Doctor and Mr. Van Pelt thenvisited Marys- 
ville and Mt. Vernon, where the work was started and 



CAMPAIGN OF BIO LEWIS. 57 

is being prosecuted with great vigor* At Delaware, 
our party was re-united. The Doctor was invited there 
by the Chi Phi, one of those mysterious Greek-letter 
fraternities which abound in colleges. Finding that 
there was no temperance organization, and that he was 
invited merely as a lecturer, Dr. Lewis put it to a vote 
whether he should proceed on his regular plan. The 
audience voted for temperance. The Doctor was made 
chairman, as usual, and Messrs. M. D. Coville, Cyrus 
Pratt, and Dr. Merrick named as an advisory commit- 
tee. 

Dr. Lewis gave a short ad(rress, and the organization 
was soon perfected. The large audience filling Wil- 
liams' Opera-house was responsive and enthusiastic. 
Short speeches were made by Rev. Voght, Mr. Handy, 
of the New York Tribune, Eev. Crook, President Rich- 
ardson, of the Female College, Mr. McDowell, Professor 
LaCroix, Professor Whitlock, Professor Perkins, Pro- 
fessor Gardner, Drs. Welch and Barnes. The men 
voted unanimously to sustain the women in their work, 
and the latter decided, without a dissenting vote, to or- 
ganize. In less than twenty-four hours from the time 
the movement began, there were a hundred ladies upon 
the streets at work. 

In the meantime a preliminary mass meeting had 
been held at Columbus, and a call issued for the State 
Temperance Convention, of which account is given 
elsewhere. Our tour with the temperance apostles 
closed appropriately with a day of rejoicing, at Wash- 
ington C. H., where the movement began. On the 17th 
of February, our party of half a dozen journalists and 
as many temperance apostles, reached that place at 
noon. Almost the entire population, headed by a band, 
escorted the Doctor to Music Hall, where a formal re- 



58 the women's war on whisky. 

ception took place. On the platform, besides the Doc- 
tor and representatives of the press, were the various 
ministers of the place, the officers of the Ladies' League, 
and prominent citizens. 

Dr. Lewis was called, and came forward amid loud 
cheers, when the address of welcome was pronounced 
by Mrs. M. G. Carpenter : 

" Dr. Lewis — In the name of the women of Washington I wel- 
come you. Eight weeks ago, when you first came among us, you 
found us a people of willing hearts and generous impulses, fully 
alive to the evils of intemperance, but needing the magnetism of a 
master mind to rouse us into a determined resistance to its ravages. 
Yours was that mind. Your hand pointed out the way. You 
vitalized our latent activities. You roused us all, men and women 
together, and we have gone forth to the battle side by side, as God 
intended we should ; ourselves perfect weakness, but God mighty 
in strength. He has given the success — not yet complete, 'tis true, 
but our faith is still unshaken. He sent you here ; He put the 
thought into your -head; He prepared our hearts to receive it; He 
has directed our steps. And now He has brought you among us 
again to gladden you with the fruition of hope long deferred — to 
see the seed, sown long ago by your mother, springing up, bud- 
ding, and bearing fruit. Dr. Lewis, in behalf of this whole peo- 
ple, I again welcome you to the hearts and homes of Washington." 

The Doctor replied with great feeling : 

" Madame and Friends — I can not make a speech on this pc- 
casion. I may, perhaps, compare myself to an Indian on a visit to 
the city of Washington — from the frontier to the place where the 
battle has long been fought and won. I have always been on the 
frontier, always engaged in the battle of reform, and now, to find 
anything really done, to find a town positively free from the curse 
of liquor-selling, it seems that there is nothing for me to do. I 
feel as one without his working harness. But I will say this : 
None but God can ever know how much I owe to this town, nor 
how fortunate it was forme and for many that I came here. I 
will not not say that this is the only community in which the work 
could be begun. The heroism and self-sacrifice displayed in other 



CAMPAIGN OF DIO LEWIS. 59 

places, the moral force developed in Southern Ohio, would make 
such a remark invidious. Often have I tried to start this move- 
ment. Once in particular, in one of the most moral towns in New 
England. Two United States Senators came upon the platform to 
give the movement their sanction. We had as fine an audience as 
could be assembled, and I said to myself, ' At last we are going to 
sucoeed.' But it was a dead failure. I know not why. All the 
elements of success seemed to be there ; but some invisible force was 
lacking. There is an invisible force at work in this movement. 
At last I came to you, and you delighted me by your work. You 
come out to meet me with music and words of welcome. But I 
come to thank you, to take you by the hands, to look into your 
eyes, and tell you how much I owe to you for being the first to 
cheer me with success. I am indebted to you for bringing out this 
plan. I am indebted to you a thousand times more than you are 
to me. But the hour of victory leaves me with little to say. I 
have never been able to visit the battle-fields after victory — have 
always gone on to new fields. I can only close by tendering you 
my earnest thanks." 

After witnessing for a day the rejoicing of the people 
of this redeemed town, the Organizer of the move- 
ment went to Springfield, where also he received an 
ovation. He also viewed the battle-ground at Hills- 
boro, and thence went to Columbus. Immediately 
after the close of the State Convention, he went East 
to assist in organizing the movement there, and on the 
17th of March was to return and work in Ohio " as 
long as he can do any good." 



60 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 



CHAPTEE V. 

A STATE ORGANIZATION IN OHIO. 

The great mass meeting in the interest of the Wo- 
men's Temperance Movement held in the City Hall, 
Columbus, on Monday, February 16th, did only one 
thing of importance ; and that was to call a State Con- 
vention to be held in the same place eight days later. 
This action of the meeting was announced to the pub- 
lic in the following card from Dio Lewis : 

"CALL FOR A CONVENTION. 

" At an immense meeting in the City Hall, Columbus, Ohio, it 
was voted to call a convention of the friends of the ' Women's 
Temperance Movement/ to meet in that Hall on Tuesday, Feb- 
ruary 24, at 2 P. M. 

" General consultation, and the establishment of a bureau, are 
the objects of the convention. The bureau will supply lecturers 
and organizers. In brief, it will supply the conditions of success. 

'" Every city, town, village, and neighborhood in the State is in- 
vited to send delegates. Half of them should be women. If the 
towns where the movement is already in progress would send those 
who have had most experience in the work, it would prove an im- 
portant contribution. 

" It is believed that a more important convention has never been 
called in the State. 

" In the event of the failure of any community to send dele- 
gates, any earnest temperance workers from such community will 
be welcomed to the conference. 

"Persons accustomed to public speaking, who would consent to 
serve in organizing the movement in various localities, are invited 
to attend the convention. Your obedient servant, 

"DIO LEWIS. 



A STATE ORGANIZATION IN OHIO. 61 

On the appointed day Columbus was enlivened by 
the presence of temperance workers, male and female, 
from all parts of the State where there was any inter- 
est in the movement, and it was evident from the start 
that the convention was to be largely attended and re- 
sult in great good* Many of the delegates spent the 
morning in communion with the ladies of Colum- 
bus at a prayer meeting in the Town Street Church. 
Here great enthusiasm was manifested. Dio Lewis di- 
rected the proceedings with even more than his usual 
tact and ability, and excellent speeches were made by 
Mrs. Dessellum, of Columbus ; Mrs. Stewart, of Cedar - 
ville; Miss Kate Dwyer, of Greenfield; Mrs. Lewis, of 
Columbus; Mrs. W. E. Strong, of New Lexington; 
Mrs. M. McC. Brown, of Alliance ; and others. 

The session of the State Convention began in the 
City Hall at 2 o'clock P. M. The large auditorumwas 
nearly filled with delegates, of whom a large majority 
were ladies. The reporters estimated the entire num- 
ber of persons present at twelve hundred. The assem- 
blage was called to order by Rev. W. B. Chadwick, of 
Columbus, on whose motion Dr. Dio Lewis was called 
to the chair. Cliff. M. Nichols, of the Springfield 
Republic, and Rev. Mr. Badge ly were elected Secre- 
taries. 

Dr. Lewis invited all ministers and editors on the 
platform, and about thirty accepted the invitation. 
Mother Stewart, of Springfield, was then escorted to 
the stand and offered a fervent prayer for the blessing 
of God upon the deliberations of the convention, and 
upon every effort in the cause of temperance. The 
assembly then arose and sung " All hail the power of 
Jesus' name," with fine effect. 

Dr. Lewis invited the delegations, from all places 



62 the women's war on whisky. 

where the women's war had been carried on, to send 
their most active workers upon the platform, and some 
fifty ladies came forward. 

On motion, a Committee on Permanent Organization 
was named, consisting of five ladies and three gentle- 
men : Mrs. Eliza Thomson, Chairman; Mrs. Mary 
Brown, Mrs. Conway, of Cedarville ; Mrs. B. T. Custer, 
of London ; Mrs. McCabe, of Delaware; and Messrs. 
Stewart, Gardner, and Keen. 

The following were named a Committee on Resolu- 
tions: Mother Stewart, Chairman; Mrs. Lizzie T. Mc- 
Fadden, of Cadiz; Mrs. M. W.Barnes, of Springfield; 
Mrs. Lowe, of Xenia ; Mrs. Dr. Sharpe, of London ; 
Mrs. Sarah Pollard, of Columbus ; and Messrs. C. M. 
Nichols, H. S. Pullerton, and J. M. Richmond. 

The Committee retired, and the Chairman called for 
" volunteer speakers — old workers in the cause." The 
first call was for Mr. Van Pelt, who came on the stand 
and spoke very briefly. One delegation sent forward 
Mrs. Timmons, of Clarksburg, Ohio, who gave account 
of the work there. 

After singing, Mrs. Laura C. Findlay, of Xenia, ad- 
dressed the convention, making a report of the work 
in that city, from its beginning. Her speech was fol- 
lowed by the singing of " Glory, glory, hallelujah ! " 

The Chairman read a dispatch from Lancaster, 
stating that the women, one thousand strong, were at 
work; that prayer was their watchword, and they pro- 
posed to " fight it out on that line." [Applause.] Dr. 
Lewis said this was good news, and proposed three 
hearty cheers, w T hich were given. 

Mr. T. W. Tallmadge read a letter from Mrs. William 
I. Reese (sister of General Sherman), expressing regret 
that circumstances prevented her from accepting an 



A STATE ORGANIZATION IN OHIO. 63 

invitation to be present at the convention, and ex- 
pressing warm sympathy -with the movement. 

The Committees being still in retirement, Dr. Lewis 
called for speeches from the ladies. The speeches 
were so full of the spirit of the movement, and con- 
tained so many facts of interest, that we can not re- 
frain from putting their substance on permanent record. 

Miss Sewell had been engaged in this cause for years 
past. What she had seen lately repaid her for all her 
labor. She was truly glad her eyes had ever beheld 
this movement. God surely is in the work. It is a 
religious movement. Long have governments tried by 
legislation to subdue the rum-seller. Her theory for 
years had been that through prayer success would 
come. Her sisters might feel disposed to speak of their 
weakness, but by trusting in Jesus they wouid receive 
strength to subdue the hearts of the most wicked men 
engaged in this work of death. These men know and 
feel that it is the sin of sins in which they are engaged, 
and it only wants the attention and faith and prayers 
of pious mothers and sisters, offered up at a throne of 
Heavenly Grace, to subdue their hearts. Some people 
called this Dio Lewis' movement. It is not his. It is 
God's work. God is in it, and it will go forward. 

Miss Kate Dwyer, of Greenfield, said the Lord had 
done great things for us, whereof we are glad. We 
commenced the work somewhat differently in our place 
from that pursued in other towns. We sent a note -to 
every liquor-seller in the. place — of which there were 
fifteen — requesting them to meet us the next morning, 
the druggists at one church, and the saloon-keepers at 
another. One druggist met the ladies and signed the 
pledge. That was the only one that met us. 

But there was one saloon-keeper who sent us word 



64 the women's war on whisky. 

that he would have been with ns, but was detained at 
home by sickness in his family. He sent us word, 
however, to bring the pledge to him, and he would sign 
it. We went to him with the pledge. He signed it, 
and with tears in his eyes begged us to pray for him. 
He said we knew he had a praying mother. 

The latter part of the same week we visited one of 
the hotels where there was a saloon, and asked the 
keeper to sign the pledge. His child came into the 
room where we were and putting her arms around her 
father's neck, said, " Oh pa, please sign the pledge." 
He pushed her from him, saying, " Go away my 
child, you do not understand it ; I will tell you about 
it after while." Said she, " Oh, pa, do sign it? " That 
night he had a dance, participated in by the very low- 
est persons in the village. He had other liquor sell- 
ers to come and play on instruments of music, and the 
playing and dancing were kept up the whole night. 
We could hear them quite plainly from our house. 
Some of our friends seemed much discouraged in re- 
gard to his case. That man at one time had been a 
follower of our dear Savior, but he seemed now so far 
gone that there was little hope for him. The next day 
we met at the church for prayer before starting out on 
our mission, and afterward, when returning from one 
of the saloons, a gentleman met us and said this man, 
to whom I have just referred, desired us to call there 
and receive his signature to the pledge. When we en- 
tered the place he met us with tears in his eyes, and 
said : " God bless you, ladies, that you ever came here. 
I thank you for it." He took us in the room, and said : 
"Here on this counter where I have sold liquor I will 
now sign the pledge." He signed it, and said : "Here, 
ladies, I will take down these bottles, and right where , 



A STATE ORGANIZATION IN OHIO. 65 

1 have filled them I will place the family bible, and 
every morning I will invoke God's blessing upon us." 

Friends, you ought to see that man since that. He 
does not look like the same man. Before that when he 
met us he would hold down his head. Now he meets 
us with a smile, and always seems glad to meet us. 

Miss Dwyer also referred to a woman who kept a 
saloon in the village, who, through their influence, quit 
the business, was converted and joined the church, and 
related other successes that had attended their labors. 

Miss Butler, of Franklin, said the friends of temper- 
ance have met in our place every week for three years, 
and asked God to bless the temperance cause. When 
we heard of the work our sisters were doing at Hills- 
boro we felt that we must take hold of this work as 
they were doing. For five weeks we have labored in 
this way, and intend to continue until every saloon in 
the place is closed. 

" God has led us on in this work. I thank Him that 
I live in this day, and that I have been permitted to 
engage in this great work, because it has done me so 
much good. These five weeks have been the happiest 
weeks of my life." 

She gave an account of an instance where a saloon- 
keeper had employed some men to furnish the music 
for a dance* he intended to have. When these musi- 
cians appeared the ladies were engaged in singing and 
praying in front of the saloon. These men were so af- 
fected by the scene that they told the saloonist they 
did not think that playing and dancing and singing 
and praying were intended to go together, and they 
went away and had no dance. 

Said she, " God is in this movement, and has drawn 
together the hearts of Christian women as never be- 



66 the women's war on whisky. 

fore. The time was when our Presbyterian friends 
thought women should not pray in public, and it was 
very easy to tell the difference between the prayers of 
Presbyterians and Baptists and Methodists. But now 
they all pray alike." [Laughter and applause.] 

They had succeeded in closing all the saloons in their 
village but one, and felt that the keeper of that could 
not much longer resist their pleadings. They were de- 
termined never to give up till the work was accom- 
plished. 

After the speeches the Committee on Nominations 
made their report, and the following officers were 
elected : 

President— Mrs. H. C. McCabe, of Delaware. 

Vice-Presidents — Mrs. Eliza J. Thompson, Hillsboro; Mrs. 
Bosa Stewart, Cedarville; Mrs. M. G. Carpenter, Washington 
C. H. ; Mrs. Amanda Clark, Newark ; Miss Kate Dwyer, Green- 
field ; Mrs. Eev. Wyant, Mt. Vernon; Mrs. Rev. Dr. Hatfield, 
Cincinnati ; Mrs. John Walker, Logan ; Mother Stewart, Spring- 
field ; Mrs. Eev. Eunyan ; Mrs. Z. T. Walker, Marietta; Mrs. 
General Ewing, Lancaster ; Mrs. Granville Moody, Eipley ; Miss 
Kate Shallcross, Gallipolis; Miss Virginia Copeland, Zanesville ; 
Mrs. Shurr, Bellefontaine; Mrs. L. C. Allen, Tiffin ; Mrs. E. C. 
McVilly ; Mrs. Judge Mayo, McArthur ; Miss Eebecca Eice (Pro- 
fessor in Antioch College), Yellow Springs ; Mrs. Joseph Cloakey, 
Middletown ; Miss Henrietta Moore, Marion ; Mrs. Eev. William 
Jones, Findlay; Mrs. David Spangler; Mrs. Brown, Athens; Mrs. 
Hortensia Beeman, New Lexington ; Miss Maggie Beattie, Ash- 
land ; Mrs. A. W. Swapel, Dayton ; Mrs. William Herr. 

Secretary — Miss Kate Gardner, of Columbus. 

Treasurer — Mrs. Mary Brum, of Columbus. 

Executive Committee — Mrs. Maria Bates, Mrs. E. A. S. Jan- 
ney, Mrs. A. E. Tremaine, Mrs. L. Dessellum, and Mrs. Joan 
Galloway, all of Columbus. 

Advisory Committee— Mr. A. A. Stewart, Hon. Chauncey N 
Olds, and Hon. E. E. White, all of Columbus. 

It was resolved, on motion of Rev. W. B. Chadwick, 



A STATE ORGANIZATION IN OHIO. 67 

that the Association should be known as the "Wom- 
en's Temperance Association of Ohio;" and on the 
recommendation of the Committee on Eesolutions the 
following declaration of principles was adopted unan- 
imously by a rising vote: 

Resolved, That the success of the Ohio women's movement in 
behalf of temperance reform has given us substantial assurance 
that the traffic in and use of intoxicating drinks can and will be 
removed from the State and Nation. 

Resolved, That in the prosecution of this work we rely on 
Divine assistance, secured through fervent, persistent, and impor- 
tunate prayers to Almighty God, offered in faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and with hearts filled with love for souls. 

Resolved, That faithful and persistent prayer must, as an inevit- 
able result, be accompanied by efficient personal and organized 
work. 

Resolved, That in addition to contributions of money, generously 
and freely given, it is recommended that the men aiding the 
women's effort to suppress intemperance in our communities, and 
to the women who carry on the work, to avoid all envy, hatred 
malice, and all uncharitableness, all bitterness of speech and 
denunciation of the men engaged in'the liquor traffic, to cultivate 
their acquaintance and kindly feeling, and by all honorable and 
practicable means to assist them in changing from a business 
injurious to society, to some other, remunerative to themselves, 
and beneficial to the community. 

At the night session of the convention Senator 
Goodhue presided, by request of Dr. Lewis, and the 
opening prayer was offered by Eev. M. S. Carpenter, 
of Washington C. H. Yan Pelt made another speech, 
and interesting remarks were also made by Miss 
Moore, of Morrow, Mrs. Eliza Thompson, of Hillsboro, 
Miss Stone, of Marietta, Eev. M. W. Hamma, of 
Springfield, and Eev. W. M. Grimes, of Cadiz. 

Dr. Lewis took this occasion to make a personal ex- 
planation at the request of friends. It had been 



68 the women's war on whisky. 

reported that he was traveling about praying at fifty 
dollars a night. He had been at the West about two 
weeks, laboring as he had never before labored in his 
life, having managed nineteen meetings, to say nothing 
of the work of the present meeting. During that time 
he had received $315. After paying his expenses — in- 
cluding the expenses of telegraphing, sometimes 
amounting to ten dollars a day — he would have left 
less than half of what he had been in the habit of re- 
ceiving for a single lyceum lecture. [Applause.] Dr. 
Lewis then made some interesting suggestions as to 
how active operations should be begun and carried on 
in cities as well as towns. He also replied to numer- 
ous questions from the audience. 

All accounts agree that this convention was a most 
harmonious body, and that its sessions were both in- 
teresting and beneficial. The Executive Committee 
now constitute a bureau which may be of great use in 
giving sugestions as to the conduct of the movement in 
collecting reports of progress, and in supplying speak- 
ers and organizers. The address of this bureau is thus 
given: "The Bureau of the Women's Temperance 
Movement, Columbus, Ohio. 



LEGAL OBSTACLES. 69 



CHAPTEE VI. 

LEGAL OBSTACLES — THE DECISION OF JUDGE SMITH. 

At the date of this writing no serious legal obstacles 
have been met by the women of Ohio, except at Hills- 
boro and at Morrow. The history of the Hillsboro 
case has been given as fully as necessary in another 
chapter. The decision of Judge Steele is not pub- 
lished because it bears only upon technical points, and 
does not affect the main questions at issue between the 
women and the liquor dealers. The case was ably 
argued, however, and but for the length of the speeches 
we would gladly publish what was said on either side. 

The Morrow case is more interesting, because the 
decision seems to establish definitely the right of the 
people to suppress a public nuisance in the mode 
adopted by the women of Morrow and other towns in 
dealing with saloon-keepers. The following is a state- 
ment of the case with a full report of the able decision 
rendered by Judge Smith: 

On the 17th of February, one Henry Scheide, a 
saloon-keeper of Morrow, in a hearing before Judge 
Gilmore, of Eaton, obtained a temporary injunction 
against the following named persons : 

Mrs. E. K. Grim, Mrs. H. J. Coffeen, 
Frank Forshnell, Josiah Fairchild, 

Geo. W. Davis, Porter Corson, 

John Hanford, Jas. H. Jeffery, 

Oscar T. Hanford, W. P. Hanford, 

B. F.Wilson, J.T.Welch, 



70 



THE WOMEN'S WAR OX WHISKY- 



Mrs. J. E. Roof, 

John P. Kibbey, 
Richard Green, 
Geo. Hurner, 
Jos. H. Ludlow, 
Thos. Smith, 
Christ. Scherrer, 
Jas. Goodpaster, 
Wra. A. Staley, 
A. Green, 
Henry Hayner, 
Jas. Wilkerson, 
Jackson Abery, 
W. Vandervort, 
Jos. Vandervort, 
L. Goepper, 
J. Cummins, 
T. J. Baker, 
H. Clevenger. 
E. Cadwallader, 
G. S. J. Brown, 
John T. Roach, 
Jonah Stubbs, 
Runyon, 
Gustin, 
Misses Lissie Dugan, 
N. Thompson, 
Carrie Wager, 
Susie Watkins, 
Lois Clevenger, 
A. Goodpaster, 
Lizzie Green, 
Ettie Fairchild, 
Clara Goepper, 
Nettie Snider, 
Anna Mounts, 
Louisa Beeler, 
J. Thompson, 
Luella Roach, 
Hattie Fairchild, 



Mrs. B. T. Ready, 

Wm. P. Mounts, 

F. Cunningham, 
John Si in on ton, 
John Roosa, 
Jas. L. Tuck, 
Thos. Miranda, 
Wm. Gilhan, 
Jacob Snyder, 
Perry Carson, 

S. H. Brant, 

Jas. Dynes. 

Geo. Brant, 

W. T. Mounts, 

John Dunn, 

A. W. Cadwallader, 

Joseph Baker, 

Hiram Cadwallader, 

W. G. Hopkins, 

J. Robinson, 

P. Coudon, 

G. W. Starkey, 
Hadley, 
Melvina Davis, 
Elmira Howard, 

Misses A die Starkey, 
Clara Bailey. 
Lilie Clevenger, 
M. Clevenger, 
Nancie Guthrie, 
Belle Mounts, 
Cynthia Lloyd, 
Mary Goepper, 
Elida Ebery, 
H. G. Moore, 
Olive Coffeen, 
Lena Thompson, 
Minnie Quick, 
Nettie Roosa, 
Anna Fairchild, 



LEGAL OBSTACLES. 



71 



Misses Ida Getz, 

Eliza Grim, 
Emma Snider, 
Nancy Gleehan, 
Martha Dynes, 
Mara Fairchild, 



Misses Mary Snider, 
Anna Grim, 
L. Clevenger, 
Clara Dynes, 
Ida Dugan, 
Mattie Koogle. 



AND THE FOLLOWING GENTLEMEN: 



George S. J. Browne, 
Benjamin F. Wilson, 
J. W. Stnbbs, 
Josiah Fairchild, 
George Hurner, 
J. C. Dynes, 
Wm. Zimmer, 

J. C. Van Pelt. 



Wm. T. Whitacre, 
J. E. Eoop, 
Lewis Fairchild, 
Thomas Smith, 
Kev. Wm. Young, 
Lee Cummins, 
Dr. Dio Lewis, 



The following is a copy of the petition presented by- 
Henry Scheide, and the one upon hearing which Judge 
Gilmore granted the temporary injunction on the 
above-named persons : 

"The said Henry Scheide, plaintiff, prays that each and every 
one of the said defendants, individually, jointly, and collectively, 
be restrained, prohibited, and enjoined from molesting, disturbing, 
or hindering the said Henry Scheide in the prosecuting and con- 
ducins; his said business, upon any pretense or pretext whatever, 
and invading or meeting in or about his premises to obstruct his 
said business; and also prays judgment against all of said de- 
fendants for the sum of one thousand dollars, and prays for all 
other proper relief in the premises." 

The trial of the women and their aiders and abettors 
took place in Lebanon, before Judge Smith. Counsel 
for the plaintiff — O'Neil, of Lebanon, and Wallace and 
Mayor Scantlin, of Morrow. The defendants' counsel 
were Ex- Lieutenant Governor McBurney, General 
Durbin Ward, and Messrs. Probasco and Van Harlin- 
gin, of Lebanon, and Cunningham, of Morrow. The 



72 the women's war on whisky. 

interest of the people of Warren county in the decis- 
ion of the case was shown by the unparalleled attend- 
ance on the session of the court while it was under 
consideration. A correspondent says the whole town 
of Morrow came over and emptied itself upon Lebanon. 
Forty women included in the list of defendants were 
among the crowd. These became the special guests 
of the Lebanon ladies, who gave them a public dinner. 
These forty marched from the church to the court- 
house in solemn procession. The excitement was in- 
tense in the town, and the case the only topic of con- 
versation. The court-house was built with the inten- 
tion of accommodating about one-half the number that' 
squeezed in on this occasion. The crowd occupied 
first the seats intended for the public, then they en- 
croached upon the space reserved for the lawyers, and 
finally they inserted themselves behind the bar, and 
sat along side of Judge James M. Smith, who presided 
in this case as chancellor. 

The argument of counsel on either side was able. 
After patiently hearing all that was to be said, Judge 
Smith took the case under consideration, and on the 
7th of March announced his decision as follows: 

<{ On the 17th day of February a temporary injunction was al- 
lowed in this case by Judge Gilmore, restraining the defendants 
as prayed for in the petition. This court is now asked to dis- 
solve that injunction, for the reasons set forth in the motions which 
have been filed, and which, briefly stated, are the following: 

" 1. That Judge Gilmore, when in another county, and while 
this court was in session, had no legal authority to grant it. 

u 2. Because the statements of the petition do not warrant a 
court of equity in granting the relief asked for, as it is apparent 
therefrom that he has an adequate remedy at law, and that the 
grievances complained of, or their continuance, have not and can 
not work a great or irreparable injury to the plaintiff. 



LEGAL OBSTACLES. 73 

" 3. Because the allegations of the petition are untrue. 

"To support these a very large number of affidavits have been 
filed in court here by the defendants, and some (additional to those 
on which the temporary injunction was allowed) have been pro- 
duced by the plaintiff, to maintain the allegations of his petition. 

" I notice as briefly as I can these grounds in the order named : 

" 1. Had Judge Gilmore, under the circumstances, the legal 
right to allow this injunction? I have no doubt whatever as to 
this question. Section 239 of the code expressly confers the au- 
thority to allow injunctions upon the Supreme Court or any judge 
thereof, the Court of Common Pleas or any judge thereof, or in the 
absence from the county of said judges, on the Probate Judge of 
the county where the action is brought. 

" There is no limitation in terms that the Judges of the Court of 
Common Pleas shall be judges of the district in a county of which 
district the suit is brought, this being settled by the language of 
the Constitution. 

"Nor is there any provision that a judge shall not exercise this 
power when he is out of the county, when the suit is brought while 
the court of that county is in session. The only limitation is that 
imposed by section 246 of the code, which provides that 'no in- 
junction shall be granted by a judge after a motion therefor has 
been overruled on the merits of the application by his court.' I 
think, then, that the authority conferred upon a judge of the dis- 
trict to hear such an application under such circumstances is clear 
and in conformity with the settled opinions and practices of our 
judges. 

" 2. Had the plaintiff under the allegations of his petition a right 
to the relief sought ? 

"The substance of the allegations of the petition is, that the plain- 
tiff is the lessee of a certain building in the village of Morrow, 
and is licensed by the government of the United States to and does 
sell malt and spirituous liquors therein, in accordance with the 
laws of the State of Ohio, and that he is also licensed to sell 
tobacco and cigars, and has been carrying on said business there 
for the past two years according to the laws of Ohio, and strictly 
in pursuance of said licenses. That his business has been of great 
profit to him, and would still be so were he not unlawfully 
disturbed and prevented by defendants from carrying it on. 

7' 



74 the women's war on whisky. 

" He says that on the 26th of January, 1874, the defendants did 
unlawfully enter in and upon his place of business, and under the 
pretense of praying, singing, and other devotional exercises, did 
take possession of said premises for two hours of each and every 
day, from January 26th until the commencement of the suit, and 
did prohibit plaintiff's customers, and all other persons who 
desired to purchase from him the articles kept for sale, from so 
doing, and have thereby done great injury to the plaintiff. That 
the defendants unlawfully conspired together to prevent him 
from carrying on his lawful business, and publicly declared, in 
the hearing of his customers, that they would never cease invad- 
ing his premises, blockading his sidewalk, besieging the door of 
his said place of business, and preventing his customers and all 
others from entering his premises to purchase the articles kept by 
him for sale as aforesaid, until his business was wholly destroyed, 
and that they would compel him to cease his business of selling 
liquors. And that on the 9th day of February, 1874, the defend- 
ants invaded his premises, and prohibited him from practicing his 
lawful business ; and though requested to leave they refused to do so, 
and occupied the plaintiff's sidewalk and the steps to his door, 
and prevented all persons from entering his premises and pur- 
chasing his articles kept for sale, and declared that they would con- 
tinue to do so, and heaped epithets upon the plaintiff in the pres- 
ence of his fellow citizens to disgrace him. Wherefore he prays 
for an injunction and for damages, which he says he has suffered 
to the amount of $1,000. 

" It is necessary, to a proper decision of the question as to whether 
the plaintiff has made a case on his petition, to ascertain what the 
duty of a court of equity is on application to restrain a private 
nuisance, which, I suppose, is the purpose of this proceeding. 
What is the law on this subject ? Our statutory provisions as to 
the cases where an injunction should be granted are held to be 
merely an affirmance of the common law on this point, and the 
authorities cited from the text books by counsel on each side are 
valuable as stating under what circumstances this extraordinary 
remedy should be afforded. 

"The law seems to be pretty well settled that equity will inter- 
pose to prevent or abate a private nuisance in some cases. That 
when then it is continuing, permanent, or recurring, an injunction 



LEGAL OBSTACLES. 75 

will be granted, unless the injury is such as may be well and ade- 
quately compensated in damages ; and the loss of health and 
sleep, the enjoyment of quiet and repose, and the comforts of 
home, are described as among those which can not be restored or 
compensated in money ; and, using the language of another writer, 
\ where the loss of health or trade, or the destruction of the means 
of subsistence are affected, an injunction is a proper and appropri- 
ate remedy. ' And our own Supreme Court, while affirming the 
doctrine that a court of* equity will not, as a general rule, interfere 
to abate a private nuisance, until the person seeking its aid has 
established his rights at law, recognize the doctrine that when a 
nuisance is of such a character as to occasion a personal incon- 
venience or annoyance, the rule would be different. I am led to 
the conclusion, then, that a case might be presented to a court of 
equity, where it would be the duty of a chancellor, on the filing of 
a petition sustained by proper evidence, to grant an injunction to 
prevent the exercise of the most solemn acts of worship even, 
performed with the purest motives, if done under such circum- 
stances, or at such time and place, as to infringe upon the legal 
rights of others, if they really operated to their substantial injury 
by the personal annoyance produced and resulting in the loss of 
trade, and were of a continuing or recurring character. And to 
apply it to a case like the one at the bar, that if a large number of 
persons were daily to gather about the place of business of another, 
who was engaged in a legitimate and proper business (that is, one 
recognized and allowed by the laws of the State in which we live 
— for the laws of the land are what courts and citizens alike should 
respect and maintain), and by singing and prayers, or other means 
however praiseworthy and commendable under proper circum- 
stances, done against the remonstrance of the person, should so an- 
noy and trouble him as to destroy his peace and comfort, and have the 
effect to greatly injure or disturb his business, and thus deprive him 
of the means of subsistence, and it was not merely temporary in 
its character, but continuing and recurring, I think that not only 
w r ould they be liable to art action for the recovery of damages 
done (as I understand to have been admitted by the counsel for 
the defendants), but that a court of equity would interfere to pre- 
vent such infringement upon the rights of others, for these are in- 
juries which can not be adequately compensated by damages, and 



76 the women's war on whisky. 

a plaintiff would not in such a case be driven first to establish his 
rights at law. 

"The question then is, does the plaintiff bring himself within 
these principles? I do not think he does. In the first place, 
there is no allegation in his petition — on which alone he can 
stand — that, except in a single instance, did he ever request this 
invasion (as he calls it) to cease, or the persons engaged in it to 
leave his premises. For all that appears from the petition, all 
the other raids may have been with his full consent ; and, indeed, 
the proof shows such to have been the fact up to the 9th of Feb- 
ruary, 1874, when for the first and only time, so far as the proof 
shows, he requested the ladies to desist. 

u Nor does his petition allege, either in terms or by implication, 
that he personally suffered any annoyance, or that irreparable 
injury to his trade or business had or would accrue. There is no 
statement that in the aggregate his business has decreased at all, 
and for all that appears it might have during the period of the 
holding of the meetings complained of, been better than ever 
before; and, indeed, there is some evidence of admissions by the 
plaintiff that such was the fact. 

"But there is another ground, which, in my judgment, effectually 
disposes of this motion. That is the third, viz.: That the allega- 
tions of the petition are not true. He alleges that he kept a house 
where he conducted business according to law. From the nature 
of the case, the character of this business in this respect is directly 
in issue, and from the proof it is perfectly clear to my mind that 
instead of this it was a place where intoxicating liquors were 
habitually sold, in violation of the laws of the State, and where 
gambling was constantly being carried on. 

" Such a place as this our statute expressly declares to be a 
public nuisance, and which being shown in a proper case would 
have to be ordered by the court to be shut up. Now the doctrine 
is perfectly well settled that a nuisance, either public or private, 
may be abated even by force, so no breach of the peace is com- 
mitted. Surely, then, the means used here, with the view of 
abating this nuisance, were not unlawful or in derogation of the 
rights of the plaintiff', for as the keeper of such an establishment, 
the maintainer of a public nuisance, and a gambling house, he can 
have no standing in a court of equity, when he asks to be pro- 



LEGAL OBSTACLES. 77 

tected in his unlawful and criminal business. The injunction 
will be dissolved at plaintiff's costs." 

The people of Morrow were in ecstasy over this 
legal victory of the women. Scheide, expecting it, had 
left town. A correspondent, writing of the jubilee on 
the day the decision was rendered, thus describes the 
scene : 

"As I write the band is playing and marching through our 
streets, followed by an immense throng of men, women, and child- 
ren, shouting and rejoicing. Every church bell, school bell, etc., 
in town is ringing, and two or three locomotives are creating a 
terrible noise, whistling and ringing their bells. In fact, the en- 
tire town is wild with excitement. Hundreds of country people, 
hearing the noise of the bells and general tumult, are flocking to 
town from all quarters, many thinking the village was in flames. 
An immense meeting is now in progress at the Presbyterian 
church, in addition to the immense throng upon our streets. 
Speeches are being made, and cheer upon cheer is rending the 
air. Morrow never had such an awakening, everybody being 
happy, except the lawyers who defended Scheide, and four or five 
saloon patrons." 



78 the women's war on whisky. 



CHAPTEK YIL 

HOW TO ORGANIZE — THE CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS. 

The most active and enthusiastic friends of this 
great movement are always found to be those who are 
firmest in the belief that it is of Divine origin, and 
that no permanent good can be accomplished without 
implicit reliance upon the Holy Spirit for direction in 
every stage of the proceedings. The prayerful spirit 
evinced by the women, and indeed by the whole re- 
ligious community, wherever the movement has been 
most successful, can not but challenge the attention of 
the most skeptical as an evidence that this great refor- 
mation is of God and not of man. But God works by 
the hearts and hands of His servants, and in appointed 
way§ ; and it is not difficult for attentive observers of 
the phenomena of this, as of other great religious re- 
vivals, to discern what instruments and modes of pro- 
cedure He chooses to bless with the most abundant 
success. 

Great care should be exercised by those who inau- 
gurate the movement in a new field, lest its early 
stages are characterized by some thoughtless act which 
may bring it before the public in a ridiculous light. 
" Order is Heaven's first law," and the Divine injunc- 
tion that all things should be "done decently and in or- 
der" is never more applicable than in a movement of this 
kind. The handful of earnest, but indiscreet women 
who, excited by the stories of conquest in the West, 



HOW TO ORGANIZE. 79 

started out in the streets of Philadelphia without pre- 
paratory meetings or proper organization, only to be 
hooted at by rowdies, insulted by saloon-keepers, and 
derided by the skeptical press, have only themselves 
to thank that their zeal and self-sacrifice was produc- 
tive of no good result. That the Ohio movement has 
not yet been successful in the East is not because it is 
not as well adapted to Eastern as to Western civiliza- 
tion, as many are disposed to think, but simply to the 
fact that it has never been fairly tried. 

The suggestions which follow are from the pen of 
Dr. Dio Lewis, whose ideas are entitled to weight, not 
only because of his connection with the movement 
when it was yet in its incipient form, but because of 
his remarkable success as an organizer. They are the 
result of careful study and reflection after his return 
from his second visit to Ohio (in February), where he 
observed the movement from various standpoints. 
They were prepared especially for this work : 

HINTS AS TO PLAN OF ORGANIZATION — BY DIO LEWIS. 

u 1. Assuming that the women are deeply interested, and have 
met in earnest union prayer meetings, I think the following steps 
constitute the best course : 

"A general meeting of citizens is called. The largest place in 
town is crowded. A chairman and secretary are chosen, a prayer, 
and a song by all, and now the clergymen and other prominent 
citizens are called upon to make two-minute speeches. 

"A committee of five — three women and two men — is next 
chosen to come forward, and, sitting where they can look into the 
faces of the audience, select an executive committee, exclusively 
of women, one from each church, and from the large churches two 
or three. The Catholic Church should be well represented, and 
outside of the churches there may be good active women who 
should have a place on the committee. 

" 2. A committee of men, consisting of one from each church, 



80 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

and two or three from the largest churches, and two or three well- 
known citizens outside the churches, and one man to represent 
the Sons of Temperance, one the Good Templars, and one from 
each of the other organizations, as the Masons and Odd Fellows, 
one to represent the insurance companies, one the lawyers, one the 
doctors, and one the merchants. These gentlemen constitute the 
Advisory Business Committee. 

" 3. After additional speeches, songs, and prayers the meeting 
adjourns to meet at ten o'clock the next morning to complete the 
organization. 

"4. At the morning meeting the various members of the two 
committees chosen the evening before will give the names of the 
most earnest women in the several organizations they were chosen to 
represent, which names have been prepared by special suggestion 
at the previous meeting. The number of new names thus pre- 
sented to the morning meeting, including the Executive Commit- 
tee, should be equal to one hundred women for every twenty-five 
dram-shops in the town. These women constitute the committees 
to visit saloons. 

" 5. At this morning meeting a committee of five or ten women 
is appointed to visit all places of business in town and request the 
proprietors to close from ten to eleven every morning, to give all 
who are thus disposed to assemble in the churches to hold what is 
called the business men's prayer meetings. As each business 
house will secure its own proper share of the business, no objection 
is generally made to the closing. The dram-shops are now the 
only places open. With all the others shut, the bells tolling the 
whole hour, and many men assembled in the churches for prayer, 
while the women are marching on the saloons, constitutes alto- 
gether a good and wise management; 

"6. It is well for the Saloon Committees to count about fifty 
each, a certain portion of the town being set off to each com- 
mittee. 

" 7. A visiting committee halts at a saloon, and the leader asks 
permission to enter. If this is granted, when they are all inside, 
an appeal from the women to the dealer in intoxicating drinks 
is read, followed by singing and prayer. It is wise to begin 
or end the prayer with the Lord's Prayer in which all can 
join. 

''The women generally remain from ten to thirty minutes. If 



HOW TO ORGANIZE. 81 

they are not admitted, these exercises are held on the sidewalk 
or in the street." 

There is little to add to these suggestions except that 
the women alone should do all the street work, but that 
the men, and especially the business men of the com- 
munity, should neglect no opportunity to manifest by 
peaceful methods their sympathy with the women and 
their intention to stand by them through good and 
through evil report. The ministers should be out- 
spoken in their sympathy on proper occasions, and let 
it be understood that as this is a religious work it has 
their best wishes. Nothing strengthens the women or 
alarms the saloon-keepers more than the knowledge 
that public sentiment — the sentiment of the good peo- 
ple of all denominations and parties — is in favor of this 
mode of closing dram-shops. 

"Peace, prayer, and persuasion," is a brief allitera- 
tive statement of the only means to be employed in 
this movement; but a fuller and more satisfactory ex- 
pression of the creed of the crusaders is to be found in 
the admirable resolutions adopted by the Ohio State 
Convention, or the Women's Temperance Association, 
and published in another chapter of this book. If the 
principles there laid down are consistently and persist- 
ently adhered to success seems almost unavoidable. 



82 THE women's war on whisky. 

CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 

Long before the State Convention of the Women's 
Temperance Association the movement had proved 
such a decided success in Ohio that friends of the 
cause in other States organized in a similar manner 
and entered upon the work. Shelbyville, Indiana, 
was moved upon as early as January 20th; but the 
ladies have met with only limited success. At Jef- 
fersonville, in that State, some very disgraceful acts 
have been perpetrated on the part of the saloonatics, 
w T hich led us to conclude that the State's Prison is 
very appropriately located there. At Eichmond the 
movement has begun with better auspices and prom- 
ise of complete success. At Indianapolis the ladies 
have so far devoted most of their energies to de- 
feating applications for license and stirring up the 
men to execute the Baxter law against liquor-sell- 
ing, in both of which they have been very success- 
ful. The movement is also in progress at Hartford 
City, Blufftown, Muncie, North Vernon, Winchester, 
and other points in Indiana; and in spite of repeated 
discouragements great good has been accomplished. 

In Chicago the movement was started in a rather ir- 
regular manner, and abandoned without anything 
being accomplished. In San Francisco, California, the 
ladies are perfecting their organization, but have not 
taken the field yet. In Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, 
the work has been entered upon with vigor, but reports 
of success are as yet rather meager. The movement 
nowhere seems to meet with that complete success 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 83 

achieved in Ohio and Eastern Indiana. In New York 
City, and Philadelphia, the Temperance Alliance is 
organi-zing carefully, intending to exhaust all other 
means before entering upon a system of visitation and 
prayer. In some of the larger cities the attempt to 
suppress the saloons on the Ohio plan of operations 
against them, has been abandoned ; and it will be even 
a larger undertaking in Cincinnati where there is an 
immense German population, and very few among them 
who regard the manufacture and consumption of malt 
liquors and wines as either sinful, immoral, or harmful. 
Educated from their youth up to drink beer and wine 
with as much freedom as water, and very rarely in- 
dulging in either to excess, they regard any attempt to 
deprive them of these beverages as an encroachment 
upon private rights which they will resist to the bitter 
end. The opposition encountered by the praying 
women in the German quarter of Columbus is but a 
feeble foreshadowing of what will happen when the 
organizing bands take up their line of march across 
the Rhine. 

In Massachusetts the movement can not yet be said 
to be well organized. Dr. Lewis insists that the 
system is just as practicable there as here; but there 
seems to be an invincible repugnance in the New 
England (especially the Boston ian) mind to adopting 
anything which had its origin in the West or South. 
The following from the Springfield (Mass.) Republican 
will give a clear idea of the New England ideas upon 
the subject, the peculiar difficulties in their way, and 
the plan upon which they have decided : 

" THE WORCESTER WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

"Decidedly the most interesting, not to say important, event of 
the week to the Massachusetts people has been the problem the 



84 the women's war on whisky. 

women of Worcester have been working out, scarcely less for their 
sex throughout New England than for themselves. Ever since the 
interest excited by the novel campaign of the Ohio women 
against intemperance was increased by the announcement that 
Dio Lewis proposed to try the same tactics in the central city of 
Massachusetts, curiosity and speculation have been growing as to 
the probable result. People who appreciated the radical differ- 
ence between the conditions under which the Western movement 
had its birth, and those of a New England community, felt pretty 
sure that it could not survive the transplantment. At the same 
time, there had been such peculiar, even wonderful, features 
connected with the Ohio campaign, that it seemed possible it 
might prove one of those phenomena which occasionally set at 
defiance all social and natural laws, and that the conservative 
East might be destined to repeat the experience of the unconven- 
tional West. 

" Such was the state of the public mind when Lewis appeared on 
the stage Monday evening. Before he had closed his speech it 
was plain enough that he had in his audience several hundred 
women who were ready for vigorous work — something that prom- 
ised to be more telling than going to temperance conventions and 
sitting by while the men declaimed the conventional speeches 
against the ' demon of intemperance/ and resolved that something 
ought to be done to arrest his progress. Not a few seemed so 
much impressed by the earnestness and enthusiasm of the apostle 
of the Ohio movement as to be almost ready for his plan of start- 
ing out for the saloons before sunset the next day. The large 
majority, however, had a more correct appreciation of the diffi- 
culties which they must encounter than their decidedly illogical 
orator, and the extent of these difficulties grew upon them the 
more they talked the matter over among themselves. Lewis 
wanted them to pray in the saloons till the keepers would close up, 
but — as is the case in most Massachusetts towns under the con, 
stabulary regime — only a few of the half-thousand drinking places 
in the city are saloons, or even, publicly, places for selling liquor, 
a great many of them being known to few but the police, and known 
to them not by any sign of bars, but by the drunkards who issue 
from them. To attempt the ferreting out of all these plaoes was 
seen to be plainly a hopeless task, and to stop in such a work 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 85 

before success was reached would be immeasurably worse than if 
nothing had been attempted. So the Worcester women soon 
decided not to essay such a Quixotical proceeding. 

"Having decided what not to do, the even more important ques- 
tion remained — what system they should adopt, for they were 
plainly in earnest to do something. Even Lewis himself, though 
he saw them rejecting his counsels, was deeply impressed with 
their earnestness, and we hear of his saying that nowhere in Ohio 
has he seen anything that equaled it. Nothing was more strongly 
marked than the determination to turn this earnestness into some 
practical channel. The plan they have settled upon is already fa- 
miliar to our readers — one of private, personal appeal, not only to 
the liquor-seller, but to his, in so many instances, equally guilty 
partner — the property holder, who rents him his shop. Instead of 
marching through the streets and attempting to pray down the ob- 
noxious liquor-seller, till he should yield an unwilling, and proba- 
bly only temporary, surrender to escape their presence, the Wor- 
cester women propose to labor with him quietly, two or three at a 
time, and try by private entreaty and prayer to persuade him to 
give up the business. At the same time, and in the same way, the 
the owner of the shop is to be urged to sign a pledge not to let 
any of his property for liquor-selling. Hotel keepers and drug- 
gists are also to be visited in a similar way, and the proceedings 
being in the most marked contrast with the Ohio way of doing 
things . 

"This may be fairly considered as the settlement of the ques- 
tion for New England, quite as much as for Worcester. We 
scarcely need to say that we consider such an adaptation of the 
Western system immeasurably wiser than an attempt to transfer 
it bodily into a climate so uncongenial. Both are equally signs of 
a deep and genuine temperance revival, which seems destined to 
affect, in greater or less degree, the whole country. Both are 
manifestations of a reviving belief in the quite generally discarded 
* moral suasion ' movement against intemperance, and as such the 
most encouraging signs the reform has seen since the Washing- 
tonian movement of a generation ago." 

Meanwhile the movement continues to spread, and. 
with astonishing success, in Central and Southern Ohio. 



86 the women's war on whisky. 

Every day brings account of beginnings at places 
hitherto thought hopeless; and every night we are 
surprised and gladdened by telegrams from two or 
three towns that " all the bells are ringing — bonfires in 
the streets — bands playing — everybody happy — the 
last saloon has surrendered." Every day the enemies 
of the movement make fresh prophecies, and each suc- 
ceeding day sees them falsified. 

About ninety towns and cities are now either in the 
thick of the contest, entering upon it, or resting after 
victory. At London, Madison county, six saloons and 
three drug stores have been closed, and twelve hundred 
people have signed the pledge. I visited London soon 
after the inception of the movement, and Mrs. B. F. 
Custer, Secretary of the Association, gave me an 
account which is considered a fair representation of 
the feeling: "We want you to particularly understand 
that this is not a mere temporary excitement, the re- 
sult of womanly impulse. We do not expect to stop 
the traffic immediately, but have set in for months, it 
may be years, of hard work. We have labored harder 
to keep down excitement than to create it. I, for one, 
will not be identified with any mere wave of enthu- 
siasm. It is folly for us to expect that when we have 
wickedly and willfully allowed a vast evil to grow up 
among us, God will suddenly relieve us of it and 
abolish it. He will not take away our free agency in 
any such way. I am pained to hear some ladies say 
thej" have staked their Christian faith on the success 
of this movement. Such a prayer-test as that would 
be nothing less than mockery. We intend to work 
on, pray on, sing on, and talk on till we get the public 
opinion up to the point of sustaining the law, and 
then there will still be plenty to do." 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 87 

Among the other prominent workers are Mrs. Dr. 
Sharp, Mrs. T. Custer, President; Mrs. Duncan and 
Mrs. Toland Vice-Presidents, and Miss Laura Kinney, 
Eeader. They have selections of Scripture read, with 
the prayers and singing. Eev. C. W. Finley, Presby- 
terian, Eev. T. H. Munroe, Methodist, and Mr. Glover, 
Universalist, are the only Protestant ministers en- 
gaged. The Catholics have taken a very active part, 
however, and the movement has the sanction of the 
priest. 

At Athens the work was prosecuted with unusual 
vigor, and in one month eight saloons and three drug 
stores were closed. (Perhaps "pledged" would be 
more appropriate for the drug stores.) Only two 
saloons remain open. But they might as well surren- 
der with a good grace, for public oj)inion is up to the 
"high moral" point, and the law will finish what the 
Gospel does not. 

At Zaleski a complete victory was gained in two 
weeks. All the saloons are closed, all the drug-stores 
<; pledged," and nearly the whole adult population have 
signed the pledge. At Jamestown every saloon is 
closed. At Waynesville and Corwin (on opposite sides 
of the Little Miami) every saloon is closed. Thomas 
Franey, "the most gentlemanly saloonatic in Ohio," 
held out a long time, but he was too much of a gentle- 
man for such a business, and yielded just in time to 
save his credit. At Eeeseville the ladies carried things 
as by storm ; three saloons were closed almost before the 
saloonatics knew what hurt them. Logan, in the Hock- 
ing Valley, looked to me like Morrow — a hopeless case. 
In a population of 2,500 it had twenty-three saloons. 
The saloonatics were all men of property, worth every- 
where from twenty to a hujidred thousand dollars each. 



88 the women's war on whisky. 

The place is surrounded by mining towns (coal), and 
its Saturday nights were often made hideous by 
drunken miners. The ladies entered upon their work 
the first of February ; the first of March only one sa- 
loon remained ! McArthur, Yinton county, was cleared 
of the liquor traffic in six weeks. At Chillicothe the 
movement proceeds slowly, but we are assured with 
certainty of final success. 

Time and space fail me to set forth the various places 
redeemed and the good accomplished. These figures 
do not represent the most important features of the 
progress. Its educational effects, both morally and in- 
tellectually, have been immense. It has waked the 
people up to their duty. The women have discovered 
their immense moral power against intemperance, and. 
they will use it. Their social power on the subject is 
yet to be tested ; but I, for one, believe it to be much 
greater than the means now employed. If every ma- 
tron would close her parlor to, and every maiden de- 
cline all attentions from, any young man who habit- 
ually used intoxicating liquors, there would be a greater 
reform than could be effected by forty Adair laws or 
Baxter bills. Bat this is hardly a just comparison, for 
a reform need not be very great to exceed that ef- 
fected by those laws. 

This movement has also educated the popular intel- 
lect. It has set men to earnest thinking who had not 
been in the habit ; it put men to committee work, and 
in other places, where their latent faculties were de- 
veloped. The genius of the movement has been : Put 
every man and woman where he or she will do the 
most good, whether at talking, writing, singing, com- 
mittee work or leading in religious exercises. Above 
all it has worked men up to the importance of enforcing 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 89 

what laws we have on the subject I am not, myself, 
an enthusiast for general prohibitory laws, but I think 
the wisdom of our legislators might give us a general 
ordinance which would enable the people of any one 
town or district to forbid the establishment of saloons 
without being governed by their neighbors. Local 
fcelf-government, with the women's movement to help, 
would clear two-thirds of the small towns of whisky- 
shops. It would not stop all whisky drinking, of course ; 
it will take some generations to do that. But it would 
remove those standing temptations which are contin- 
ually creating a new army of drunkards. 

But are there no evils connected with this move- 
ment? Verily, there are, and some serious ones, too. 
When it began prophecies were abundant as to the 
evils that would result. Particularly it was expected 
that as it spread it would gradually grow less effect- 
ive ; that saloon-keepers would devise new methods 
of resistance, and when the novelty wore off men 
would sell and drink regardless of the presence of 
women. This has proved only partially true. New 
defenses have been overcome by new methods of 
attack ; the movement appears to gather strength 
rather than lose, and where the fair crusaders have 
been careful to keep within the law, their power has 
suffered no diminution. 

One evil to be feared more than all others was the 
natural tendency of all such movements to run into 
fanaticism, and be controlled by mere blind impulse. 
But I am surprised to see how successfully this evil 
has been avoided in most instances. There is no other 
feature in which the ladies have shown such admira- 
ble tact and judgment as in guiding the popular 
enthusiasm; and the methods by which they have 
8 



90 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

controlled it deserve notice. Whenever a man got 
obstreperous they would sing him into calm reason. 
At manjran evening meeting I have attended I have 
seen some muscular Christian, or fighting Methodist, 
get terribly excited over the liquor traffic, or some 
slight he thought the ladies had received, and talk in 
a way that, if let alone, would excite a mob spirit 
But the ladies would at once strike up, "Come ye 
that love the Lord," or " There is a fountain filled 
with blood," or some more subduing strain, and even 
as David's harp charmed the evil spirit out of Saul, 
the song brought down the w T arlike mind to a calm 
temper. When a man got unusually angry, some 
venerable lady or old Christian brother would deliver 
a fervent prayer for humility and a contrite heart, 
and all would be well again. 

But I have noticed one evil occasionally, the relation 
of which may wound the feelings of the devout. In 
many instances this movement has caused a profana- 
tion of prayer. People of peculiar organizations, who 
are not careful to distinguish between their own 
impulses and the " promptings of the Spirit," have 
been led to utter extravagances, which would grate 
harshly on the ear at any time, but are positively 
shocking in a prayer. If 1 ma} r so express it, they 
did not pray to God so much as at the saloon-keeper, 
imagining that zeal for the cause and anger at its 
opponents were equally the results of Divine prompt- 
ings ; their prayers were not petitions to the Creator 
so much as threats of Divine vengeance on the rum- 
sellers and passionate appeals to the hearers. Some 
such evil as this, so natural to poor humanity, seems 
inseparable from all popular excitements, in which the 
religious emotions play an active part. "The great 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 91 

army of the queer and crazy," as aptly described by 
Mary Clercimer Ames, seem instinctively attracted to 
such movements ; and, as if it were planned by the 
devil himself, they so mix up with the movement that 
they appear to the world as its accredited leaders. 

Luther did not have half the trouble with pope and 
priest that he did with those wild reformers who main- 
tained that " Christian liberty" meant liberty to follow 
the patriarchs into polygamy and concubinage, and to 
be independent of earthly rulers and magistrates. 
And I imagine the women suffragists of to-day would 
rather have ten thousand Todds, Bushnells, and Hol- 
lands against them than one Wood hull with them. 
That something of that nature attends on this is not 
to be wondered at; but I can safely say that I never 
witnessed a movement that had so little. That the 
ladies have so managed as to almost avoid that entan- 
glement, I consider their greatest triumph. The legal 
difficulty in the way is not so easily settled. Christi- 
anity is not incorporated in the law of Ohio, and I 
have no more right, under the Constitution, to sing 
and pray before a man's door against his will than he 
h-as to whistle and dance before mine. I observe that 
one judge goes farther, and says that public prayer 
for a man against his will, no matter where, is an in- 
fringement of private right. " His name is his private 
property, and must not be used in such a way as to 
bring him into unpleasant notoriety or public con- 
tempt." It will certainly be a novelty in jurisprudence 
if men take out an injunction to prevent women pray- 
ing for them. But I suspect there are very few deal- 
ers who will appeal to the law. Those who are with- 
out the law must be judged accordingly, and if there 
is one saloon-keeper in ten in this country who keeps 



92 the women's war on whisky. 

within the law, I haven't the evidence to convince me 
of it. I remember, however, an injunction case of a 
similar nature, that is reported in Second Kings, and 
that was dissolved rather suddenly by a higher Court. 

Take it in any light we will, this movement is 
worthy of attention. Even in the lowest political 
view it is important, for more than one local election, 
and probably some general elections, will turn upon 
it. To the higher class of statesmen, who recognize 
the fact that all parties embodying great principles 
must be built up by slow and separately insensible 
increments, it is of interest as an important factor in 
the work. The attention of the philosopher is called 
to it as a unique phenomenon, and the sociologists 
might see in it an important point in the progress of 
social evolution. The Christian, of course, will see in 
it a remarkable illustration of the power of prayer 
and moral force. And whether right or wrong, the 
Christian has this advantage: his view includes all 
that is good in all the others, and has a special element 
of personal comfort besides. 

The indirect effects of the Women's War on Whisky 
are deserving of notice. It is generally true that when 
anv great movement like this sweeps over the country, 
enlisting tens of thousands in the cause, every man 
with an ism starts up and tries to hitch the movement 
on to his car. The advocates of prohibitory liquor 
laws, of woman suffrage, and of the religious amend- 
ment " God-in-the-Constitution " — severally- see in this 
movement a heaven-sent proof of the goodness of their 
cause and an aid to its success. At first it seemed that 
this work would be a wonderful help to woman-suf- 
frage; but later developments show rather the contrary. 
In the first place the leading women who advocate 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 93 

suffrage for their sex have taken strong ground against 
this movement. Besides the pronunciamentos from 
Mrs. Cady Stanton, and others, the following letter 
from Mrs. Swisshelm shows the animus of that class : 

" To the Editor of the New York Tribune : 

"Sir: The daily press has been largely occupied of late with 
details of the war which women have waged with the liquor traf- 
fic in some of our Western States ; and, so far as I have observed, 
its sentiment seems to be generally in favor of the attack, while 
the defense has small share of sympathy. As the question thus 
raised lies deeper than a few illegal prayer meetings in the snow, 
will you allow me a little space for its consideration ? 

"In her address before the Judiciary Committee of the House 
of Representatives, in Washington, against the right of any wo- 
man to take any part in political affairs, Mrs. Guthrie said, that 
'man is, by nature and by God, the keeper and guardian of women 
and children.' That this is physically true, there is no room for 
doubt. No man can honestly live to himself. The gifts of one 
are the inheritance of all. The strong, by the gift of strength, is 
made the helper of the weak; the wise, by his wisdom, the teacher 
of the foolish ; the pure, by his purity, the guide of the impure — 
and so on to the end. Our best belongs to the world ; our worst is 
our own. Bacon's wisdom and greatness were important items in 
the schedule of the world's wealth. His meanness alone was his 
private property. Man's superior muscle makes him the muscular 
guardian of women and children, and lays upon him onerous du- 
ties, which he seldom shirks. Even savage men make their bodies 
a wall of defense for the women of their tribe, and that man lacks 
manhood whose instinct does not prompt him to spring between a 
woman or child and physical harm. This instinct is something 
different from that which makes the strong man the guardian of 
the infirm of his own sex, and lies deep in the Creator's plan for 
the perpetuation of the race. 

"To one who thinks calmly, and recognizes man's natural guardi- 
anship of woman, it is wonderful to see hundreds of thousands of 
able-bodied men stand aside and cheer a few thousand feeble wom- 
en on to such a wasting, hopeless, physical contest. What is it 
all but a trial of physical strength between the liquor dealers and 



94 the women's war on whisky. 

their assailants, with all the conditions in favor of the former? 
Who does not know it is hopeless ? Who does not know that the 
man can sit longer by his hot stove than the women can kneel in 
the snow ? Who does not know that he must win the case when 
it comes before the courts? Who does not know that the law is 
on his side? Who does not know that they have no more right 
to encumber a sidewalk with a prayer-meeting tent than with a 
pig pen ? Who does not know that they have no more right to go 
into a man's house without his consent, or to hinder his lawful 
business by crowding his doorstep, than he has to set up a bar in 
the parlor of any one of them ? Who does not know that these 
women are reenacting the part of the old sheep who knocked his 
own brains out butting a swinging mallet? The thing seems at 
every stroke to give way, but returns with rebound to strike the 
striker, while the men who encourage the onslaught are like the 
boy who hung up the mallet. 

"With a word, a turn of the hand, men made the laws which 
they prompt women to violate. Without physical labor, by the 
exercise of a great moral power, they intrench the rum traffic in 
its present position ; then, as a ' sop to Cerberus/ quiet their con- 
sciences by throwing up their hats for the women who attack those 
intrenchments, by pitting their powers of physical endurance 
against those of the garrison. The implement which raised the 
fortifications is the ballot; and this is the only power competent 
to overthrow them. If it is not right for woman to wield this 
power, it is not wise for her to contend against it, with only physi- 
cal endurance as a weapon. It is, in fact, a complete reversal of 
the natural position of the sexes ; for, as physical force is man's 
sphere, so is moral power woman's ; and in as far as he exceeds 
her in muscle does she excel him in moral -perception. To deny 
her the use of that most efficient moral weapon, a vote, and then 
urge her into a physical contest with it, is very like saying that 
women can not use artillery or Spencer rifles, but ought to form 
the advance in an attack upon an army well drilled in their use, 
and sending them forward armed with broadswords, shields, jave- 
lins, and other implements of mediaeval warfare. This is certainly 
poor generalship, and suggests the idea of surplus troops, which 
it would be more economical to bury than provision. Soldiers 
who can not be intrusted with weapons of equal power with those 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 95 

of the enemy, should be mustered out, and never should have been 
mustered in. 

"Men alone have assumed the responsibility of government. 
Let them bear it alone or acknowledge they can not. If they feel 
that they have been legislating themselves into drunkards' graves, 
and can not do otherwise, let them look for the cause ; and if they 
find that the Creator was right when he said, ■ It is not good for 
man to be alone/ and gave to man and woman a joint dominion 
oyer the earth, let them call on their natural, heaven-appointed 
allies ; let them restore to them their equal dominion, which men 
have feloniously taken away, and say, 'help us and yourselves; 
join with us in preserving our children from the rum fiend ! Help 
us to save the world ! We will bear the brunt in physical war, 
you on the moral battle-field. United we stand, divided we fall! 
Together we can face and conquer all the powers of darkness ! 
Come with us, not as our property, but as our partners, in time and 
in eternity, in joy and in sorrow, in conflict and in victory ! ' When 
they are ready to do this they will find women, even Mrs. Guthrie, 
ready to respond; but until they are, let them do their own fight- 
ing with the creature of their own creation, and the carnal weapons 
of physical force which of right belong to them. 

"JANE GKEY SWISSHELM. 

"Chicago, III., February 12, 1874." 

It seems to be the idea of such women that if men 
would only make "good laws," every thing would be 
lovely. And no doubt, when those women enter our 
legislatures we shall have plenty of " moral reform" 
laws. With what result every experienced man can 
easily predict; for, among all the uncertainties of law 
and society, one thing is everlastingly certain: The 
unexpected and indirect results of any law are always 
greater than the direct and expected. 

But while a few have been converted, many more 
have been convinced by this movement that in moral 
matters women can do far more than voters. In pol- 
itics women could only do what we have done — pass 
temperance laws and elect men to execute them. A 



96 the women's war on whisky. 

quarter of a century's experience has shown the futil- 
ity of that. Our laws are too good now. The average 
moral sentiment of the laws is above the average moral 
sense of the people. Such laws are due to the special 
efforts of exceptionally good men, who labor to get 
them on the statute-book, and then are vastly sur- 
prised to find that laws do not execute themselves. 
The advocates of this reform assume that a state of 
society could exist in which the women were so far in- 
dependent of the men that they could adopt a scheme 
of civil polity in opposition to the wish of a majority 
of the men, or having adopted, enforce it. And this 
when the census of Ohio shows that, with the excep- 
tion of one in twelve, every woman of voting age is 
the intimate bosom friend, business partner, and trusted 
counselor of some man ; that four-fifths of the prop- 
erty is in the hands of men, and nine-tenths of the 
ability to earn more, and that men won't enforce their 
own laws if they don't like them, much less those of 
women. The proposition is briefly this: Men are to 
hand over half their political power to women, that 
women may turn around and use that power to compel 
men to do right. The genius who lifted himself over 
the stile by his boot-straps must have been the in- 
ventor of this scheme. I should naturally hesitate to 
hand a woman a club if she had previously declared 
her intention to "swat me over the head" with it. 
And it seems to me that what men are unwilling to do, 
they will hardly give women the power to compel 
them to do. 

And while it is doubtful whether many friends of 
temperance have been gained, it is certain that all the 
enemies of this movement are made the enemies of 
women suffrage. There is in this country a growing 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 97 

dread of the influence of the church, as such, in poli- 
tics; and many undoubted friends of temperance have 
grave fears that they will, by alliance with this move- 
ment, be dragged into other schemes for which they 
have no sympathy. Such regard women suffrage as 
only an aid to u God-in-the-Constitution," and a union 
of Church and State. 

The prohibitionists have been scarcely more fortu- 
nate in capturing this movement. Whether this result 
was due to the position of Dr. Lewis or not, we can 
hardly say; but whenever called upon to give his 
views, he has opposed prohibitory legislation. At 
Dayton he gave his views at length. He gave a fall 
history of such. legislation in Massachusetts. He had 
once favored it, and labored for it, but he now saw his 
mistake. It had injured the cause by leading men to 
trust in law. The Washingtonians had been laboring 
to save drunkards by love and kindness, but when the 
law came they put their hands in their pockets and 
said, "Now let her work," and she would not work. 
They had the most law-abiding people in the world, 
and a prohibitory law so good that the devil himself 
could not pick a flaw in it. Yet they had thirty-five 
hundred rum-holes in Boston, and more drunkenness 
than before in the State. He felt impelled to thus talk 
because this women's work met with so much hin- 
drance from men who put their trust in law. Our ex- 
perience of a quarter ,of a century in Indiana seems to 
teach the same lesson. 

The reasons for this imperfect operation of prohibi- 
tory laws are not k far to seek. And even in those 
cases where such laws appear to be doing great good, 
it is well to inquire if their operation is not creating 
among the people habits of thought which will even- 
9 



98 the women's war on whisky. 

tually work out far greater evils than any the laws 
can remove. It can not be doubted that our popular 
institutions have their root deep in the democratic 
idea that it is nobody's business what a man does to 
his own hurt; and that the liquor traffic only comes 
within the province of the legislature in so far as it 
enables a man to maintain a nuisance against the wish 
of the community. Upon this principle the " local 
option" feature of our law appeared to me correct, 
enabling each community to decide for itself whether 
it would sustain the sale of liquor. But I suspect the 
great error of the temperance men has consisted in 
going beyond this, and maintaining the right of the 
State to regulate individual conduct wherever it 
seemed good to the majority to do so. 

Two theories of civil government were presented 
for our forefathers' consideration : the paternal, assum- 
ing that it is the business of government to "take 
care of the people," and permit them to do only that 
which is for their good; and the opposite doctrine, 
that it is the province of government to leave each 
man as much as possible to himself, and only interfere 
with him when he interferes with some other man's 
personal freedom or property. No matter which was 
the true theory originally, there can be no question 
that the Constitutional Fathers adopted the latter; 
that they intended a cheap and simple form of gov- 
ernment, which should not touch the individuality of 
the citizen at one point in a thousand of his daily life. 
But, unfortunately, habits of political thought endure 
long after the facts which gave rise to them have 
passed away ; and the old European idea of a paternal, 
religious, or moral reform government still lingers in 
the minds of a large class of our people. " Why don't 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 99 

the government do something?" is a question I hav6 
heard at least a hundred times since the late panic ; 
and to the minds of such people the two facts that a 
certain thing is an evil, and we should he better off if it 
were abolished, are ample reasons for governmental 
interference. "Something must be done — govern- 
ment ought to take hold and do it. Whatever gov- 
. ernment undertakes, if the law is sufficiently stringent, 
will be accomplished." Such is virtually their logic — 
though they do not put it so definitely. 

And this seems to me the great evil of all prohib- 
itory liquor laws; they familiarize the minds of the 
people with the daily interference of government in 
their private affairs. They raise up a hateful brood 
of spies and informers. They send men spying into 
our back kitchens or private closets, to see what we 
drink ; and then to following our steps to see where we 
buy it. Honorable men instinctively shrink from this 
sort of business, and no matter how fairly the reform- 
ers start out, you will notice that the actual business 
of filing information or making affidavits soon slides 
down into the hands of men whom we do not readily 
take to. This honorable reluctance to " turn informer" 
on one's neighbor, to have him fined for an " ordinary 
drink," is not without its resulting embarrassment; 
but can we afford to have it abolished? Suppose we 
could create such a furore for temperance that men 
would generally give notice of their neighbors' sale, 
purchase, or use of liquor — yea, suppose we could 
thereby abolish the traffic altogether — and to that 
complexion must it come if we abolish it by law — 
though at the cost of breaking down this instinctive 
reluctance, would not our loss far outweigh our gain? 
The moralist comes to me and says : " Sir, it is bad for 



100 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

you to drink." The prohibitionist says: "Sir, you 
shall not drink ; and if you do, we'll put you in jail or 
make you tell where you got your liquor!" And all 
the natural man and democratic American in me fires 
up to reply, " I'll drink what I please." And if the 
law does imprison me for refusing to tell where I 
obtained my liquor, the community has an instinctive 
feeling that personal liberty has been outraged, and 
one or two such cases render the enforcement of the 
law in that community impossible. The moral sua- 
sionist presents himself as a friend, the law as an 
enemy. The chances are a hundred to one that the 
toper will listen to the first where he would resist the 
second. 

Another serious defect in the prohibitory law is, 
that it is only effective as to the poor, but a dead letter 
as to the rich. And any law of which that is true is 
certain to be a failure in this democratic country. 
The retail shop, where the poor man gets his drink, can 
be shut up, but the wealthy use as much liquor as 
ever. At least a hundred fines have been inflicted for 
drunkenness in one town within the year — every one 
of them upon poor laboring men — while I have known 
a score of "drunks" among the wealthy and socially 
powerful without even a threat of arrest. It is scarcely 
necessary to quote here the homely proverb, " What is 
everybody's business is nobody's business," but it is 
evident that a law which does not specifically call upon 
some one person or set of persons for enforcement con- 
tains within itself the elements of defeat. It is easy 
enough to say, "The law is good enough, if people 
would only enforce it." Similarly, if the stone you 
throw up would stay in the air, it would not fall and 
break anybody's head. But there is a law of nature 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 101 

operating by reason of which the stone will not stay 
in the air ; and there is a law none the less real, though 
more subtle, by which statutes aimed at merely per- 
sonal vices will either be irregularly enforced or totally 
disregarded. When a man is murdered, his friends — 
or the man himself and his friends, if his property be 
taken or his person harmed — are all alive to the im- 
portance of justice ; every eye is open, every ear turned 
to catch the slightest whisper which may lead to the 
arrest of the offender. And, when arrested, the prose- 
cuting witness is the natural ally of the law ; no threats 
of the court are required to make him testify, and 
thus it is two against one— State and witness against 
the offender. But in case of personal vices, particu- 
larly drunkenness, the offender and the one on whom 
the act is done are in collusion against the law; their 
interests are to defeat the prosecutor, and the unwil- 
ling witness either evades the court entirely, or with- 
holds the most important evidence. It is here again 
two against one, but the one is the law. Hence, laws 
against murder, theft, and the like, have an inherent 
tendency toward enforcement, no matter how loosely 
or awkwardly worded ; but laws against personal vices 
naturally tend to fall into disuse ; and thus a prohibi- 
tory liquor law must be far more stringent and clearly 
worded than ordinary criminal law; and to render it 
effective, the powers of government must be increased 
ten fold. 

The State of Indiana can enforce her Criminal Code 
with tolerable certainty; but to enforce the Baxter 
bill, it will be necessary not only to vastly strengthen 
the prerogatives of each local official, but create a cen- 
sor morum, whose specific duty it shall be to file infor- 
mation against offenders, upon which the justice can 



102 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

issue warrants. The advocate of temperance laws too 
often lose sight of the distinction between sin and 
crime. The latter will be punished on the evidence of 
the injured party ; punishment of the former must de- 
pend on society at large, unless the government name 
a censor, as suggested. But the experience of all con- 
stitutional governments has shown that an increase or 
extension of the powers of government always results 
in one of two evils — either each separate arm of gov- 
ernment grows weaker in proportion as the arms are 
extended, or in the desperate attempt to strengthen 
them the central power grows too great for the liberty 
of the citizen ; and thus government on the one hand 
degenerates into anarchy, or on the other strengthens 
into despotism. The former tendency is now apparent 
in our laws — at least one-fifth of them are practically 
void. One-fifth of our statutes might be repealed to- 
morrow, and the observer would note no difference in 
the ordinary workings of society. The prohibitionists 
must now address to their consciences this question : 
Is the suppression of the liquor traffic of such tran- 
scendent importance that we should, to compass it, 
grant extraordinary powers to government : and if we 
do grant these powers, will the eVil stop there? 

Another serious difficulty with such a law is the ease 
with which it can be made an instrument of private 
revenge. In this it is like our Sunday law, " provoke" 
law, " profanity" law, and a dozen others referred to 
above. Nobody ever thinks of enforcing them in a 
general way ; but occasionally some mean-spirited soul, 
who has conceived a spite against his neighbor, lies in 
wait till he hears him swear, or sees him violate some 
other one of our many " dead -letter laws," then hies him 
to a justice and takes his mean revenge by means of the 



THE MOVEMENT BECOMES NATIONAL. 103 

law. Of course the injured party, seeing that the stat- 
ute is only revived at rare instances for an unworthy 
purpose, looks upon the government as an enemy 
rather than a. friend, and he and his become enemies 
of the law. Several such cases have already occurred 
under our temperance law. Disregard for such stat- 
utes insensibly teaches men contempt for all law, and 
the measure of legal power becomes the measure of 
right. 

For twenty years it has been " orthodox " to favor 
prohibitory laws, to see only the reasons in their favor, 
and ignore the difficulties. On men who took no active 
part in the reform the effect of such a one-sided sys- 
tem was bad enough; but on those who made it a hobby 
much worse. In zeal for this one reform they lost 
sight of collateral issues; though constant failure at- 
tended the law they refused to return to the moral and 
educational methods by which a partial success had 
been secured, and insisted on "more stringent meas- 
ures." Ignoring the evils almost certain to result 
from such laws, the radical temperance men too often 
appear as a set of impracticables. To many of them 
it was nothing that such legislation trenched on indi- 
vidual liberty, that it raised a brood of spies and in- 
formers ; that it cultivated hypocrisy, perjury, and 
evasion of law ; that it familiarized the popular mind 
with a coerced morality, and gave rise to more dangers 
and evils than it cured. Their action might have been 
appropriate, and their plan practical, under a different 
political system ; but under ours, I can not but con- 
clude that all such repressive systems will fail. The 
ideas of those who favor such legislation appear to me 
only a "survival" of those which prevailed under the 
older " paternal governments." Once they were use- 



104 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

ful, and their action assisted to make the present con- 
dition possible ; now they are a hindrance, leading men 
to trust that to written law, which can only be accom- 
plished by moral and educational methods. We are in 
a transition state, and our laws are a compromise be- 
tween the past and the future, answering, though some- 
what awkwardly, the needs of the present. Nominally, 
and in the written constitution, " paternal government" 
is abrogated; practically, and in the minds of many of 
the people, we retain the standards of political thought 
and governmental creeds of the old system. That we 
are so able to develop the new, while the old still clings 
to us, is one of the hoj)eful signs of the times. Con- 
stant experiments on the old plan, under the new con- 
ditions, followed in course by constant failure, will 
finally teach the most impracticable that new wine can 
not safely be put in old bottles ; that a system emi- 
nently practicable under a monarch with a standing 
army, is eminently absurd where the people must en- 
force the law upon themselves ; that a popular govern- 
ment can not make people good by law; but that vir- 
tue, temperance, and general morality must depend on 
individual action and moral suasion, the only benefit 
of law being to prevent undue interference with the 
good by the violent and bad. 

The Women's War has elicited a thousand or more 
songs, poems, and hymns. From a half-bushel or so 
offered I select, as a fitting finale to this somewhat 
lengthy digression on prohibition and other reforms, 
the best one — written by a gentleman who believes in 
all the isms from " God-in-the-Constitution " down. 
While the composition is not above criticism, the 
meter not quite faultless, and the measure not exactly 



the woman's problem. 105 

Spenserian, yet the life and spirit are good ; and while 
I dissent from all the author's conclusions I agree meas- 
urably with his premises. . 

THE WOMAJTS PEOBLEM. 

BY GEORGE KATES. 

"The sounds of war come from afar 

With victory songs to cheer us, 
While sacred airs and fervent prayers 

Ascend from voices near us. 

It is a cry ascending high 

From stricken hearts, all bleeding, 
Whose prayer and song recite a wrong 

All other wrongs exceeding — 

A giant wrong, alert and strong, 

Entrenched in human weakness, 
Before whose shrines, 'mid glowing wines, 

The brave bow down in meekness. 

Love fades and dies in bloated eyes; 

The strong their strength surrender; 
While manhood falls prostrate, and crawls 

Before the arch offender. 

While millions feel his iron heel 

And writhe beneath its power, 
They seek in vain redress to gain 

From men who serve the hour. 

For those we send our laws to mend 

Consult their purse and palates, 
Till every law presents a flaw 

To serve their master's valets. 

When helpless man beneath this ban 

Let fall his hands despairing, 
'Twas women's hour to try her power, 

In deeds of love and daring. 



106 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

Calm and alert, with faith begirt, 

Of malice all defiant; 
With gentle hand she grasps her wand, 

And wrestles with the giant ! 

Ye gods and men, with golden pen, 
Write down her deeds of valor ! 

Write on the page: "'Tis woman's age; 
And demons quail in pallor." 

Breathless we stand, and watch her wand, 
That waves in conflict yonder ; 

While song and prayer fill all the air 
With problems men may ponder. 

As goes the fight 'twixt wrong and right, 
Her wand still waving higher, 

The demon moans in bitter tones 
'Neath love's resistless fire. 

Shall you and I stand idly by, 
Without a voice to cheer her, 

While hell sends up its battle cry 
From tongues that vilely jeer her? 

Shall we, whose hearts should be our charts 
Stand croaking like the raven, 

While her fair hand waves high the wand 
That points us to a haven? 

Are we not men with mother ken ; 

In this republic sovereign ? 
With vote and voice to make a choice 

Of how, and who shall govern ? 

"Ah! yes," say you, "but still, 'tis true 
We lack the force of numbers," 
Then let us rise and ope our eyes, 
From out our listless slumbers ! 



THE women's problem. 107 

And talk no more, as wont of yore, 

Of arms and hearts of yeomen; 
The way is plain, the right to gain — 

Enfranchise glorious women! 

At least, we'll pray : God speed the day 
When victory's wreath shall crown her ; 

And every State, from small to great, 
Shall in the franchise own her ! 

While now she kneels where manhood reels, 

Amid his foul pollution, 
Then both shall stand with hand in hand — 

This problem's grand solution. 

Where now she stoops, 'mid vulgar groups, 

To raise her fallen brother, 
She'll stand erect with those elect, 

Who council each with other. 

In her franchise full power lies 

To offer firm resistance 
To venal rings which avarice brings 

To crush out our existence. 

Now, woman, we will stand by thee 

In fair and adverse weather ; 
Come, thou, help us with votes, and thus 

We all shall pull together. 

With one voice ask, and then the task 

Of equal rights securing — 
Long since begun — at once is done ; 

And done to be enduring. 

With faith in right, we'll then have might 

To stem all adverse currents, 
And reach a port of safe resort 

In spite of winds and torrents ; 



108 THE WOMEN'S WAR ON WHISKY. 

While those who ride upon the tide, 
When tidal waves are flowing, 

And shift their range as tides may change, 
Or winds reverse their blowing, 

Find winds that blow with tidal flow, 
Reversed, can but condemn them ; 

And ebbing waves must find them graves, 
Unless for right they stem them. 

Piqua, Ohio, March 1, 1874. 



APPENDIX. 



i. 

FOKMS OF PLEDGES. 

The following are the forms of pledges used in the 
progress of the Woman's Temperance Movement: 

druggists' pledge. 

We, the undersigned, druggists of , hereby pledge our- 
selves, upon our honor as business men, that from this date we 
will, under no circumstances, sell, or give away, or allow to be sold 
or given away by any of our agents or employes, any alcoholic or 
intoxicating liquors, wine, beer, or ale, except upon satisfactory 
evidence that the liquors are to be used for medicinal or mechan- 
ical purposes. 

PROPERTY HOLDERS' PLEDGE. 

We, the undersigned, property holders in , pledge our- 
selves, upon our honor, not to let or lease our premises (or prem- 
ises for which we are agents), in this city, or permit them to be 
used or occupied for the sale or dispensing in any way of spirituous 
liquors, wine, beer, or ale, to be used as a beverage. 

DEALERS' PLEDGE. 

We hereby pledge ourselves, upon our honor, not to sell, furnish, 
or give away, or allow to be sold or given away by any agent or 
employe of ours, either by retail or wholesale, any spirituous 
liquors, wine, beer, or ale, except for medicinal or mechanical 
purposes. 

PHYSICIANS' PLEDGE. 

We, the undersigned, physicians of , upon our honor as 

professional men, promise hereby not to prescribe the use of spir- 
ituous liquors, wine, beer, or ale, only in case of absolute ne- 
cessity. 

(109) 



110 APPENDIX. 

II. 

CAMPAIGN SONGS. 

New songs have not been received with much favor 
during this crusade, the ladies having as a rule pre- 
ferred to sing the old familiar hymns, which everybody 
knows, and which are so admirably adapted to arous- 
ing the enthusiasm of devout Christians or workers in 
any great moral reformation. Such hymns as "Nearer 
my God to Thee," "All Hail the Power of Jesus' 
Name," "Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow," 
" Rock of Ages," and the Battle Hymn of the Repub- 
lic have arisen from every assemblage of the crusaders 
and have become as familiar to the saloon-keepers of 
Ohio as they have heretofore been to the most regular 
church-goers. To fit the air of the Battle Hymn of the 
Republic, or "John Brown," as it is generally called, 
several temperance songs have been written, and 
some of them have been sung by the ladies and mass 
meetings of both sexes, with great effect. We append 
three, which have been received with favor : 

THE BATTLE HYMN OF TEMPERANCE. 

BY LEWIS MEREDITH. 

Tune: "John Brown." 

The word from Heaven is spoken, and will never pass away, 
That truth and right shall spread, and win a universal sway ; 
And now are pouring o'er the world the glories of the day : 
God's truth is marching on. 

CHORUS. 

Glory, glory, hallelujah ! 
God's truth is marching on. 



APPENDIX. Ill 

From sin and Satan Christ shall have the empire of the world ; 
Through darkest dens, o'er ranks of hell, His lightnings shall be 

hurled ; 
Behold from far, and waving wide, his banner is unfurled: 
His truth is marching on. 

The wretched earth has mourned so long the reign of vice and 

crime, 
That hearts will dance and eyes will shine when comes the better 

time. 
'Tis coming! coming on apace! In all its golden prime: 
God's truth is marching on. 

The fiend is doomed ! Thy will be done, by woman pledged and 

sworn. 
The forts are stormed by prayer and praise, and on the wind is 

borne 
Exulting shouts of joyful hosts, as through the gates of morn: 
God's truth comes marching on. 

Arise with Heaven ! and bless the world ; let all respond below; 
With heart and hand and voice arise, to fell and crush the foe; 
For God hath cursed the curse of drink, and He will lay it low ; 
His truth is marching on. 
Chicago, February 26, 1874. 



BATTLE HYMN OF THE CRUSADERS. 

" Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord," 
The fulfillment of His promise, as recorded in His Word, 
And the smiting of the wicked with his "terrible swift sword." 
When God is marching on. 

CHORUS. 

Glory, glory, hallelujah! glory, glory, hallelujah! 
Glory, glory, hallelujah ! our God is marching on ! 

Long hath God heard from stricken hearts a feeble, plaintive sigh- 
" How long, O Lord, how long must we unpitied live and die? 
Wilt Thou not in Thy mercy, Lord, now listen to our cry ? 
As Thou art marching on ?" 



112 APPENDIX. 

The woes of drunkenness on earth have mounted up to Heaven, 
The wrongs of parents, children, wives, are known and unforgiven, 
And long God's light and truth in vain with guilty men have 
striven ; 

Now God is marching on. 

In mighty power God's voice is heard above all earthly din, 
Repent ! repent ! come forth at once from all your haunts of sin, 
Ere in my courts I swear in wrath, "ye shall not enter in ; " 
For God is marching on. 

Long have you to your brother's lips a poisoned chalice pressed, 
And though you know 'tis sin and crime, by you 'tis unconfessed ; 
Now listen to God's stern command this moment to desist, 
For God is marching on. 

The sinner hears the voice of God now sounding in his ears, 

It mingleth with kind woman's voice, in songs, and prayers, and 

tears, 
And fills his heart with sense of guilt, and penitence, and fears; 
God's Truth is marching on. 

He listens to the still small voice of conscience in his heart, 
And pledges from iniquity forever to depart, 
And in the cause of Temperance to take an earnest part; 
Our God is marching on. 

Let all God's people lift their hearts, and from the mountain's top 
And from the plains and valleys deep, send up a joyful shout, 
The Lord is God, and from the earth this curse he will blot out, 
For God is marching on. 



THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE CRUSADE. 

BY MRS. EMILY J. BUGBEE. 

On the plains of bloodless battle, they are gathering true and 

strong, 
All the hero-hearted women, who have wept in silence long, 
At the terrible oncoming of this raven-winged wrong, 
Now God is leading on. 

Chorus — Glory, glory, hallelujah, etc. 



APPENDIX. 113 

They have sallied forth to conquer, and will never beat retreat, 
While the banner of the rum-fiend is still flaunted on the street, 
And hifl-.hellisk snares are waiting, for the all unwary feet, 
For God will lead them on. 

They will pierce the bending heavens with united prayers .and 

cries, 
Till the strongholds shall be shaken and the foe defeated lies, 
Who has slain his many thousands of the strong ones and the wise 
For God will lead them on. 

They have looked to law's enforcement, for the time that never 

came, 
Now, God hath surely kindled in their hearts undying flame, 
And relying on His spirit, they shall conquer in His name, 
For He is leading on. 

For the future of their dear ones, for their country's power and 

pride, 
Onward moved by bitter memories of the past, whose pains abide, 
They are working, weeping, praying, in their weakness side by 

side, 

For He is leading on. 

Be still, oh tongue of caviler, be strong oh heart of fear, 
See you not the cloudy pillar that is ever hovering near, 
Know you not an ear is open that will not refuse to hear? 
For God is leading on. 

Oh the beauty and the blessing when the curse is swept away, 
That has turned to midnight darkness so many a golden day, 
And is throwing weary shadows o'er many a life-long ray, 
For Christ is coming near. 

All the desert and the wilderness shall blossom with the flowers 
Of industry and plenty, in this blessed land of ours, 
And the grace of God unstinted shall come down in gentle showers, - 
For heaven will be begun. 
10 



114 APPENDIX. 

III. 

DIO LEWIS' ACCOUNT OF HIS MEETINGS IN WORCES- 
TER—HIS PLANS FOR A NEW SERIES OF MEETINGS 
IN OHIO. 

Montpelier, Vt.. March 9, 1874. 
" To the Editor of the Cincinnati Gazette: 

"The temperance meeting at Worcester was a grand success. 
The great hall was never filled with a nobler audience, and every 
one declared that the Ohio temperance movement was fairly inau- 
gurated in the heart of Massachusetts. The meeting at Grace 
Church, the next morning — a meeting of women — filled the house; 
and was characterized by the same manifestations that have so con- 
stantly thrilled me in the Ohio meetings. I attended, likewise, 
the meeting of the clergy in the afternoon. It was long and in- 
harmonious. The question was, whether, in the resolution which 
should express their views of the woman's temperance movement, 
they should say, 'Resolved, That we shall respect any temperance 
movement inaugurated by our Christian women;' or, ' We bid 
God speed to any temperance movement/ etc. The meaning of 
'respect ' and ' God speed ' were carefully considered. While this 
debate was in progress, there were six hundred tearful women on 
their knees in Grace Church. 

"I have been lecturing in other localities every day since, but 
learn from the newspapers that the friends in Worcester have been 
very busy in devising what is to be known as the Eastern Woman's 
Temperance Movement. They propose to reduce the number of 
women in the parties visiting saloons, and to visit privately prop- 
erty owners, to induce them not to rent their property for dram 
selling; and, in case any property is already rented for this vile 
purpose, not to renew the lease. In every case they propose to 
avoid all excitement, which, it is affirmed, is inconsistent with the 
refined tastes of New England. I can not forsee the result. But 
one thing is very certain, the women of Worcester are desperately 
in earnest, and, I have no doubt, will find a way. I notice in Sat- 
urday's papers, in large letters, 
" ' DIO lewis' western scheme abandoned by the ladies 

OF WORCESTER.' 

" I am sure the brave women of Ohio will be glad to learn a bet- 
ter way, and will adopt the * Eastern method,' or what a Boston 



APPENDIX. N 115 

paper calls the ' Worcester method/ if they can see in it some 
easier and more effectual way of ridding their great Common- 
wealth of the curse of dram shops. 

"At the Columbus convention I gave notice that I should return 
to Ohio before the 15th of March. I must visit New York, Phila- 
delphia, and some other cities, but think now I shall reach Cleve- 
land on the evening of Monday, the 16th of the month. I par- 
ticularly wish to begin in the northern part of the State. 

" In every city, town, or village, where the friends will manage 
their meetings in a certain way, I will make no charge for my 
services beyond the mere expenses. There are several towns in 
Ohio which have written me their willingness to pay a hundred 
dollars if I would come to them. I will visit all of those towns, 
and any others, without charge, if they will make the following 
preparations : 

" 1. Charge an admission fee of twenty-five or fifty cents, to 
raise a fund to carry on the work, but admit women free. By the 
fee you keep out idlers. 

"2. Reserve one-half the house, and that immediately in front 
of the platform, for invited women. Print invitation cards, and 
carefully circulate them among the best women in town, with a 
statement on the card that the ticket gives the bearer a reserved 
seat. These tickets are to be distributed fairly among the various 
churches, not neglecting the Catholic Church, and among many 
excellent women outside the churches. Ushers will receive the 
holders of such tickets and seat them. 

"3. Circulate complimentary invitation cards to clergymen, and 
such other persons as the friends would like to have sit on the 
platform. 

" 4. Have a good singer on the platform, who, in addition to a 
leading voice, shall keep time with his hand, and thus help the 
whole audience to sing as with one voice. 

"I will bring the songs. These will be distributed free through 
the house, to be preserved by the friends for use in future meet- 
ings. 

"Although for the nineteen temperance meetings held in Ohio I 
received but $315, and after paying expenses from Boston through- 
out the campaign and back to Boston, including the expenses of 
some other people in part, and very Large telegraph bills, I had 



116 APPENDIX. 

less than $50 balance ; and certainly it was the most exhaustive 
labor of my life, still I think now there was a sort of justice in the 
contemptuous sneer of the newspapers that i Dio Lewis is praying 
for temperance at $50 a night.' I shall not expose myself to this 
criticism again. Few men sacrifice more than I do by absence 
from home, as I have two large institutions in which persons are 
occupied who are dependent on me for daily directions. But I 
am not a poor man, and am free to admit that it was wrong to 
charge a fee for conducting the temperance meetings. I will see 
that the balance left in my pocket goes back into the good work in 
Ohio. 

"But let it not be forgotten that some most efficient and devoted 
laborers now at work in Ohio and other portions of the West are 
dependent upon their daily labor for their daily bread. Nothing 
would be more unjust and cruel than to ask these faithful friends 
to work for nothing." 

THE WOKK IN CINCINNATI. 

At the time this volume goes to press the women of 
Cincinnati have entered, with much enthusiasm, upon 
the great work of redeeming that city. Prayer meet- 
ings of women, ministers, and business men, as well as 
great mass-meetings, attended by both sexes, are daily 
and nightly held. The Christian Women's Temper- 
ance League is officered as follows : 

For President, Mrs. Charles Ferguson ; First Vice-President, 
Mrs. W. H. Malone; Second, Mrs. M. B. Hagans; Third, Mrs. W. 
H. Allen; Treasurer, Mrs. Dr. E. Williams ; First Secretary, Mrs, 
E. Dalton ; Second Secretary, Mrs. E. S. Johnson. 

The city has been divided into the following districts 
for the active work of visitation : 

" Southeastern District — Boundaries : North Miami Canal ; 
east, Mount, Adams ; south, Ohio river ; west, Central avenue. 
Subdivisions of the Southeastern District : 

1 — Court and Canal, Elm street, Eighth street Central avenue. 
2 — Eighth, Elm, Fifth, Central avenue. 
3 — Fifth, Elm, Pearl, Central avenue. 



APPENDIX. 117 

4 — Pearl, Elm, river, Central avenue. 

5 — Canal, Vine, Eighth, Elm. 

6— Eighth, Vine, Fifth, Elm. 

7— Fifth, Vine, Pearl, Elm. 

8 — Pearl, Vine, river, Elm. 

9 — Canal, Main, Eighth, Vine. 
10— Eighth, Main, Fifth, Vine. 
11 — Fifth, Main, Pearl, Vine. 
12 — Pearl, Main, river, Vine. 
13 — Canal, Broadway, Eighth, Main. 
14— Eighth, Broadway, Fifth, Main. 
15 — Fifth, Broadway, Pearl, Main. 
16 — Pearl, Broadway, river, Main. 
17 — Eggleston avenue, Broadway, Fifth. 
18— Fifth, Pike, Pearl, Broadway. 
19- — Pearl, Pike, river, Broadway. 
20 — Fifth, Eggleston avenue, river, Broadway. 
21 — Gilbert avenue, Mount Adams, Observatory street, Eggleston 
avenue. 

22 — Fifth and Observatory streets, reservoir, Ohio river, Eg- 
gleston avenue. 

The remainder of the city was divided into districts, 
as are below described, and these districts are to be 
subdivided in the same manner as is above shown for 
the first district. The work of making this subdivision 
was committed to Dr. Walden, by whom the district- 
ing as above was also marked out on the map of the 
city: 

2. Southwestern District — Boundaries : Hopkins street, Central 
avenue, Ohio limits, western limits. 

3. Northwestern District — North of Hopkins street and west of 
Miami canal. 

4. Northeastern District — North and east of the Miami canal. 

5. Mt. Auburn District — Mt. Auburn and Corryville. 

6. Walnut Hills District— Walnut Hills, Woodburn, East Wal- 
nut Hills, and west to limits of District No. 1. 



118 APPENDIX. 

7. Fulton District — Fulton, Pendleton, and Columbia, 

8. Cumminsville District — TfVenty-fifth Ward. 

Friday, March 13th, was observed by the ladies of 
Cincinnati and Columbus as a day of fasting and 
prayer for the blessing of God upon the Women's 
Temperance Movement in those cities. 



